Gesta Hungarorum: The Deeds of the Hungarians 9789633865699

Table of contents :
CONTENTS
GENERAL EDITORS' PREFACE
ABBREVIATIONS
LIST OF MAPS, FIGURES AND TABLES
INTRODUCTION
J . SZŰCS: THEORETICAL ELEMENTS IN MASTER SIMON OF KÉZA'S GESTA HUNGARORUM (1282-1285)
GESTA HUNGARORUM / THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GAZETTEER OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES
INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

Citation preview

SIMONIS DE KÉZA

GESTA HUNGARORUM SIMON OF KÉZ.'l

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

CENTRAL EUROPEAN MEDIEVAL TEXTS General Editors

JÁNOS M.BAK URSZULA BORKOWSKA GILES CONSTABLE GÁBOR KLANICZAY

SIMONIS DE KÉZA

GESTA HUNGARORUM SIMON OF I Venesia :

Map 1

The routes of King Charles and Master Sixtus in 1 270-71

J-) 1271)

labria

Route of King Charles (27 Jan. - 28 Febr. 127 1) : Route of Master Sixtus (30 Nov. - 27 :

Map 2

SIMONIS DE KÉZA GESTA HUNGARORUM

SIMON OF KÉZA THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

SIMONIS DE KÉZA

[GESTA HUNGARORUM] a

1 . lnvictissimo et potentissimo domino Ladislao tertio 1 gloriosissimo regi Hungariae6 magister2 Simonc de Keza, fidelis clericus eius, ad illum aspirare, cuius pulchritudinem mirantur sol et luna 3 • 2. Cum vestro d cordi affectuose adiaceret Hungarorum gesta cognoscere, et id mihi veraciter constitisset, nationis eiusdem historiase , quae diversis scartabellisf, 4 per ltaliam, Franciam ac Germaniam5 sparsae sunt et diffusae, in voSimonis de Keza Chronicon Hungaricum elegans opusculum K 6 Hungarorum K a

e

Symon K

d

nostro K, H

e

historias E, ystorias S, victorias K, H

f scartabellis E, scartabelis S, sparsa bellis H, scartabris K

1

Ladíslas (László) IV "the Cuman," king of Hungary 1 272-90. ln calling him "the Thírd" the author dísregards the infant Ladislas III, who díed Ín 1205 soon after hís coronatíon. 2

Master: eíther because he was learned (he probably studied law in Northern Italy Ín the 1270s) or because of hís offíce wíth the chancel­ lery. He is mentioned as Queen Elizabeth's cleric Ín 1272, then as Ladislas IV's aulae nostrae notarius in 1283 (Szűcs, above, p. IL) .

SIMON OF KÉZA

[THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS]

1 . To the most invincible and powerful lord Ladislas the Third, most glorious king of Hungary, 1 Master2 Simon of Kéza, his faithful cleric: may he approach Him "whose beauty sun and moon marvel at." 3 2. As it was a matter dear to your heart to learn of the deeds of the Hungarians, and I had ascertained this fact for certaín, I set about to bríng together ín one volume the storíes of that natíon scattered and spread Ín varíous sources4 through Italy, France, and Germany. 5 However,

3

From the "Antiphonarium in festo S. Agnetis et Comm. virginum" (Hesbert, Corpus, 3, no.3 407) ; a much quoted passage, cf. St.Bemard, Opera omnia 4: 321.

4

The prologue is modelled after the Pantheon of Godfrey of Viterbo (ca. 1198) (MGH SS 22: 104) . For an analysis of the prologue's prose rhythms see Horváth (Stílusproblémák, 386-87) , who notes the con­ temporary Hungarian practice of employing mostly dispondaic and trispondaic sentence-endings. - The word scartabellis, from scartabello (codex chartaceus) , is one of Simon's many ltalicisms (see Szúcs, above p. LXIII etc.) ; Losonczi, De latinitate, 24-46) . 5 ln the 1260s and between 1268 and 1271 he may have visited parts of Germany, France, and ltaly as the king's envoy; see Szúcs, above p. IL, and Maps 1 and 2.

4

GESTA HUNGARORUM

lumen unum redigere procuravi, non imitatus Orosium1 , qui favore Ottonis caesaris, cui Hungari in diversis suis praeliis confusiones plures intulerant2 , multa in libellis suis apochrifa confingens ex daemonibus incubis3 Hungaros asseruit generatos. Scripsit enim quod Filimer, magni Aldarici regis Gottorum filius, dum fines Scitiae armis im­ peteret4, mulieres, quae patrioa nomine Baltrameb no­ minantur, plures secum in exercito suo dicitur deduxisse5 . Quae cumc essent militibus infestissimae, retrahentes plu­ rimos per blandities a negotio militari, consilium regis ipsas fertur de consortio exercitus eapropter expulisse. Quae quidem pervagantes per deserta d, litora paludis Meotidaee • patria S, alio K, E, generatio H, 6 Baltrame S, E, Baltucme H, Baltranae K " cum S, dum K d loca sive S add. e

Meotidis H, Moeotidis E

1

T he name Orosius is taken from the main source of this passage, Jordanes Getica 24.121. But Simon may have used Orosius' Historia contra paganos (1.1 and 1.2) directly, especially for the description of Scythia. 2

Simon anachronistically refers to the German Emperor Otto I "the Great" (936-73) , who defeated the roving Hungarians in the battle of Lechfeld, close to Augsburg, in 955. The Hungarians led some forty raids against western Europe, from ca. 899 to 955, and around ten pillaging campaigns against the south and east of Europe. 3

The story is borrowed from Jordanes Getica 24.121-22. The word incubi demonstrates the influence of the Pantheon (p. 183) ; for its meaning, cf. Isidore, Etymologiarum libri 8.11.103-4: . . .lncubi appel­ lantur sive lnui ab ineundo passim cum animalibus. Saepe enim inprobi

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

5

I have not imitated the example of Orosius. 1 For he con­ cocted many apocryphal stories in his pages out of partial­ ity towards the Emperor Otto, on whom the Hungarians had inflicted numerous discomfits in their various battles, 2 and claimed that the Hungarians were begotten of demonic incubi. 3 Thus he writes that when Filimer, son of Aldaric the Great, 4 king of the Goths, was attacking the borders of Scythia, he took away with him in his army numerous women known in their own language as Baltrame.5 These women were a great menace to the soldiers as they drew large numbers of them from their military duties with their blandishments, so for this reason, the story goes, the king's council expelled them from the company of the army. Thereupon they wandered through the wilderness and

existunt etiam mulieribus, et earum peragunt concubitum "They are

cálled lncubi or lnui from their indiscriminate intercourse with ani­ mals; often they behave shamelessly to women and copulate with them too." - From this point on, Simon equates the history of the Huns with that of the later Hungarians, the two peoples being one and the same in his eyes. By the tenth century some West-European Latin and Byzantine chronicles had already taken for granted the identity of the Huns and Hungarians.The first serious and detailed argument for their common origin-not known to Simon-was written by Heriger of Lobbes (abbot 990-1007) , whose work was continued by Anselm of Liege (d. 1056) in his Gesta episcoporum Tungrensium, Traiectensium et Leodiensium (PL 139, cols. 1021-24) , based on the same chapters of Jordanes' Getica that Master Simon later made use of. 4

ln Getica 24.122 Filimer (or Filemer) king of the Goths is referred to as the son of Gadaric (Gadarici magni filius) rather than as magni Aldarici regis filius. 5

The Getica (24.121) calls them "Haliurunnae"; glossed as magas mulieres "magician women" (Maenchen-Helfen, "Legends") .

6

GESTA HUNGARORUM

tandem descenderunt 1 • Ibique diutius dum mansissent pri­ vatae solatio maritali, incubi daemones ad ipsas venientes concubuisse cum eisa iuxta dictum Orosii2 referuntur. .Ex qua quidem coniunctione dixit Hungaros oriundos. Sed ut eius assertio palam fiat falsissima, [SRH, 142] primo per textum comprobatur evangelicum, quod spiritus carnem et ossa non habeant, et quod est de carne, caro est, quod autem de spiritu, spiritus est3 . Contrarium quoque naturis rerum dixisse iudicatur et penitus adversatur veritati, ut spiritus generare possint, quibus non sunt concessa naturalia in­ strumenta, quae virtutem ac officium dare possint gener­ andi valentes perficere veram formam embrionis4 . Quo­ circa patet6 , sicut mundi nationes alias, de viro et faemi­ na Hungaros originem assumpsisse. ln eo etiam idem satis est transgressus veritatem, ubi solos sinistros prae­ liorum eventus videturc meminisse ipsorum Hungarorum, felices praeteriisse silentio perhibetur, quod odii mani­ festi materiam portendit evidenter. Volens itaque veri­ tatem imitari, sic inprosperos ut felices interseram, scrip­ turus quoque ortum praefatae nationis, ubi et habitave-

a eis S, ipsis K 6 quocitra patrem K

e

1

videtur K add.

The Sea of Azov. Simon takes the name from the description of Scythia in earlier Hungarian chroniclers such as the Anonymus, who in turn took it from the Exordia Scy thica; see Harmatta, "Érudition."

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

7

finally settled on the shores of the Meotis marsh. 1 They remained there a long time, deprived of marital consola­ tion, but then-according to Orosius2 -demonic incubi are said to have come to them and had intercourse with them; and he maintains it was from this congress that the Hungarians sprang. However, that his assertion may be seen to be patently false is proved, in the first place, by the text of the gospels, which say that "a spirit has not flesh and bones," and "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." 3 One must dismiss it as against nature and quite contrary to the truth when he maintains that spirits can beget when they are not supplied with the natural organs which could provide the procreative ability and function capable of creating the true form of an embryo. 4 From these considerations it is obvi­ ous that like other peoples of the world, the Hungarians owe their origin to man and woman. There is another respect, too, in which he strays in no little way from the bounds of truth, in that he seems to recall only the battles lost by the Hungarians, while passing over in silence those with outcomes favourable to them. This is an unmistake­ able sígn of the overt bias in his writing. As I am concerned to reproduce the truth, I will include both the favourable and the unfavourable ones. I will also write about the origin of the aforementioned nation, where they lived, how many 2 Jordanes (Getica 24. 121) has instead: ut Priscus istoricus refert "as the historian Priscus"-or, "an ancient historian" -"relates." 3 Luke 24:39, John 3:6. 4

T he passage employs the terminology of scholastic disputation:

assertio, comprobatur, contrarium, adversatur.

8

GESTA HUNGARORUM

rint, quot etiam regna occupaverint et quotiensa immu­ taverint sua loca. Illius tamen adiutorio ac gratia mini­ strante, qui rerum omnium, quae sub lunari circulo esse habent et ultra6 , vita quoque fruuntur creatione habita, est Deus opifex creator idem ac redemptor, cui sit honor et gloria in saecula sempiterna 1 •

EXPLICIT PROLOGUS INCIPIUNT HUNNORUM GESTA 2 3 . [M] ultifarie multisque modis olim in veteri testamen­ to3 , et nunc subc aetate sexta saeculi diversas historias diversid descripserunt, prout losephus, Isidorus, Orosius et Gotfridus4 aliique quamplures, quorum nomina expri­ mere non est opus. Ego autem in illo tempore illius mundi illud opus incoavi, quando caritas refriguerat, iniquitas abundaverat et omnis caro ad malum quam ad bonum pronior erate · 5 • [SRH, 143] a

quoties H

6 ultra S, H, E, ultro K e

Ín S

d diversi istorias S e K, H, E omit the !ast sentence. Henceforth we follow Ms K. 1 2

Rom. 16:27, 1 Tim. 1:17.

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 2, 239-40. Henceforth chapters of the so-called 14th-century Hungarian chronicles, which may have used the same sources as Simon or contained texts that were known to hím, will be referred to.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

9

realms they occupied, and how many times they moved to new lands-but . ever with His help and grace Who is craftsman God, Creator as well as Redeemer of alhhings which have their being under the lunar circle and beyond, and enjoy life since creation; to whom "be honour and glory for ever and ever" 1 eternally. END OF THE PROLOGUE BEGINNING OF THE DEEDS OF THE HUNS2 · 3 . "At sund ry times and in divers manners in time past" 3 in the Old Testament, and now in the sixth age of the world, 4 different historians have written different histo­ ries, for example Josephus, Isidore, Orosius, and Godfrey, and others too numerous to mention. But I began this work at the time of the world when "love" had "waxed cold," and "iniquity" had "abounded," and "all flesh" was more prone to evil than to good. 5

3

Heb.1:1.

4

For the sixth age cf. Pantheon lntroduction 105, and Rev. 20: 10; also Isidore Etymologiarum libri 5.38.The chronological notion of the six ages follows the tradition in St. Augustine and Bede.

Direct borrowing from J osephus is unlikely, though not impossible. His name appears together with Orosius in the introduction of the Pantheon (MGH SS 22: 103) . Simon obviously consulted the l;ttter, and apparendy also the Etymologiarum libri and the Historia Gotica and Chronica of Isidore.- For "But I began ..." cf.Matt.24:12; but these phrases are commonplaces, cf.e.g.De vita s. Geraldi comitis (PL 133 : 641) . 5

10

GESTA HUNGARORUM

4. Porro cum per cladem diluvii praeter Noe et tres· filios eius deleta esset omnis caro, tandem ex Sem, Kam et lapfetha LXX. duae tribus post diluvium sunt progressae 1 • De Sem XXII.h, ex Kam XXXIII.c, a Iafeth vero X. et septem2 • Dum autem tribus istae, sicut refert Iosephus, lingua Hebraica uterentur3 , ducentesimod primo anno post diluvium4 Menrote , s gigans filius Thana6 ex semine Iafeth oriundus, turrem construere caepit cum omni cognatione sua, attendentes periculum praeteritum, ut sí contingeret diluvium iterari, possent evitare ultionis iudicium turris interfugio7 • Divini vero mysterii arbitrata sentent1a, cm

a

Iapheth E, Iaphet et Kam H

& 25 H e

37 H

d

ducentesimo S, decimo K, deinde H, dicto E

e

Nemroth H, Nemprot S

1

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 4, 247-50. T he scriptural basis is Gen. 7:21, 7:23, and 10:1. 2 Cf. Isidore Chronica 429, where the numbers of tribes are: Japheth,

15; Ham, 30; Shem, 27. The other Hungarian chronicles (SRH 1: 243) have the same numbers as Simon. 3

Simon probably did not use Josephus direcdy but cites him via perhaps one of the earlier Hungarian chroniclers, in which the Biblical intro­ duction to the Hunnish and Hungarian history was already elaborated, or via Isidore (cf. Chronica 428: ut refert losephus) . 4

Simon's source had "ducentesimo uno," as in SRH 1: 247, written in · full and not in Roman numerals. For the chronological problem see the note to Isidore, Chronica, PL 83, cols.1019-22.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

11

4. After all flesh had been destroyed through the disaster of the Flood save Noah and his three sons, 1 finally seventy­ two tribes came forth after the Flood from Shem, Ham, and Japheth: twenty-two from Shem, thirty-three from Ham, and seventeen from Japheth. 2 Now, as Josephus tells, 3 all these tribes spoke Hebrew. But in the two hun­ dred and first 4 year after the flood the giant Ménrót, 5 son of Thana, 6 of the seed of Japheth, began to construct a tower. Ever mindful of their danger in the past, he and his kin hoped that if the flood came a second time they could escape judgement and retribution and take refuge in the tower. 7 But the mysterious judgement of God, which hu5 lt is hardly likely that our Menrot is a variant of the "Nimrod" of the biblical text. Rather, the biblical Nimrod has been identified with "Ménrót," a legendary figure in Hungarian historical tradition. The Gesta of the Anonymus records a persona! name Ménmarót, cf. men, Bulgarian-Turkish for 'great,' and marót, Hung. for 'Moravian' (Györ­ ffy, Krónikáink, 207) . ln the Bible Japheth's son is Magog and not Nimrod. This suggests that the Magog who in the Anonymus (ch. 1, SRH 1: 35) gives his name to the Moger/Magyar was first conflated with Ménrót, and thm identified with Nimrod. - Henceforth, as Simon's stories and especially names have often parallels or variations in the gesta of the Anonymus (P. Magister) of e. 1200-the use of which by our author has been amply demonstrated-we shall regularly refer to it for comparison. 6 A Scythian king called Tanaus is mentioned in Justinus (Epitoma Historiae Philippicae 1.1) and Isidore (Etymologiarum libri 13.21.24) . Regino of Prüm also mentions in his geographical description of Scythia (ad ann. 889) the river Thanais, which, according to Isidore as well, was named after Tanaus (Györffy, Krónikáink, 206) . 7

Gen. 11; Isidore Etymologiarum libri 5.39.6 and 15.1.4: . . . post diluvium Nembroth gigans Babylonem urbem . . . fundavit. . . . For the motive in building the tower see Josephus Antiquitates 1.4.2.

12

GESTA HUNGARORUM

non sufficit resistere humanus intellectus, sica illorum mu­ tavit loquelam ac confudit, ut dum proximus a proximo non posset intelligi, tandem in diversas sunt dispersi regio­ nes. Fecerant enim in turri memorata, sicut dicit losephus, deorum templa ex auro purissimo, palatia lapidibus pre­ tiosis fabricata, columnas aureas et plateas diversimode petris coloratis diversiusque6 astracatasc. Et erat turris ipsa in quadrum sublevata, ab uno angulo ad alium habens passuum longitudinis millia XV. et latitudinis totidem 1 . Altitudinis vero quantitas finita nondum erat, sed usque lunarem circulum, quem diluvii unda non attigerat, illorum cogitatu [SRH, 144] debebat sublevari. Trecentorum au­ tem passuum grassitudod fuerat fundamenti, sublevata si­ quidem paulatim artabatur, quod grassitiese inferior pon­ dus prominensf sustineret. Sita etenim erat inter Nubiam et Aegyptum, cuius antiqualiag cernuntur usque hodie eun­ tibus de Menphis Alexandriam2 • Dimissis ergo incidentiis, quae caeptae materiae dant colorem, redeundum est ad [M] enroth, quih gigans post linguarum incepta [m] i confu­ sionem terram Eiulath3 introivit, quae regio Perside isto a

sic H, E, sicut K

6 diversiusque H, duusuusque K, ductibusque E, diversisque S. The editor of E mentions in notes, p. 29. : "in Membrana legam: duusuusque astracatas" . e

abstractas E

d grossities H, E e

grossities H, E

f praeminens K g antiqualia H, E, antiquilia K h lacuna in K, qui H, E i lacuna in K, inceptam H, E

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

13

man intellect is powerless to oppose, altered and confused their speech; no man could understand his peighbour, and they were finally scattered over different lands. Josephus tells that in this tower they had built temples of purest gold to the gods, palaces wrought of precious jewels, golden columns and streets decked with all manner of different coloured stones. The tower itself was built square, meas­ uring 15,000 paces from one corner to the other, and in breadth the same. 1 lts precise height was never fixed, but in their minds it was to rise as high as the lunar circle where the waters of the Flood had never reached. The foundation was 300 paces thick, and as it rose it narrowed gradually so that the thickness underneath might support the huge weight resting upon it. The site of the tower was between Nubia and E gypt, and its ruins can still be seen today by travellers going from Memphis to Alexandria.2 But regret­ tably, we must set aside these details which enliven our theme and return to the story of Ménrót. After the confu­ sion of tongues the giant entered the land of Havilah, 3 1

For the judgement see Gen. 1 1 :7; also Josephus Antiquitates 1 .4.2. Simon, however, or the author of the earlier Hungarian Chronicle, borrowed the story from Jerome Commentarium in Esaiam 5. 1 4.22-23, expanding it probably from Isidore Chronica 430: hanc turrem Nebroth gigans construxit, qui post confusionem linguarum mi­ gravit inde in Persas . - For "in quadrum" cf. Herodotus 1 . 1 78-79. For diversisque see Agnellus of Ravenna, Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis, 302. - The ltalicism astracatas come.s from lastricare 'to cover' (also used by Agnellus Liber pontificalis 328, 3 63 in the forms lastra, lasta) . 2

An allusion to the pyramids of antiquity. Many authors, for example Otto of Freising (Gesta Friderici, 2. 1 5 = FvS 1 6: 1 32) , identified Memphis with Babylon. 3

Cf. Gen. 2: 1 1 , 25: 18; 1 Kings 1 5:7 etc.

14

GESTA HUNGARORUM

tempore appellatur 1 , et ibi duos filios, Hunor scilicet et Mogor ex Eneth sua coniuge generavit2 , ex quibus Huni sive Hungari sunt exorti. Sed quia gigans Menroth uxores alias sine Eneth perhibetur habuisse, ex quibus absque Hunor et Mogor plures filios et filias generavit, hi sui filii et eorum posteritas Perside inhabitant regionem, statura et colore Hunis similes tantummodo parum differunt in lo­ quela, sicut Saxones et Turingi3 . Cum autem Hunor et Mogor Menroth essent primogeniti, a patre ipsorum taber­ naculis separati incedebant. 5. Accidit autem dierum una venandi causa ipsos perrex­ isse in paludes Meotidas, quibus in deserto cum cerva occurrisset, illam insequentes, fugiit ante eos. Cumque ibi ab oculis illorum prorsus vanuisset, diutius requisitam in­ venire ulloa modo potuerunt4 • Peragratis tandem paludibus a

used several times far "nulla"

1

Isidore Chranica 21.

2

T he progenitress of the Hungarians in gentile historical tradition, but probably also a totem animal: "ünő" or "inő" is Hungarian for hind. T his seems to confirm that the legend of the deer hunt (below, ch. 5) is rooted in the ancient oral traditions of the Hungarians, and is not a mere borrowing from J ordanes (Györffy, Krónikáink, 35-38) . A mythical hind is first mentioned in connection with the Huns by Sozomenos (mid-fifth century) ; a similar story is mentioned by T hiet­ mar of Merseburg regarding the Saxons ( Chranican 2.37) . Perhaps this hind also corresponds to the figure of "Emesu" mentioned by the Anonymus (ch. 3) . - T he name Hunor may come from " Onogur," the name of a people with whom the proto-Hungarians lived in close proximity in the eighth century (cf. Getica 5.37, where it appears in the form Hunuguri), or is simply an eponym made up from " Hun," just as Mogor is from "magyar" ('Hungarian') . - T he suggested connection

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

15

which is now called Persia, 1 and there he begot two sons, Hunor and Mogor, by his wife Eneth. 2 It was from them that the Huns, or Hungarians, took their origins. However, it seems the giant Ménrót had other wives apart from Eneth, on whom he sired many sons and daughters besides Hunor and Mogor. These sons and their posterity inhabit the land of Persia and resemble the Huns in stature and colour, mere­ ly differing a little in speech, like the Saxons and the Thur­ ingians. 3 But as Hunor and Mogor were Ménrót's first born, they journeyed separately from their father in tents. 5. Now it happened one day when they had gone out hunting in the Meotis marshes that they encountered a hind in the wilderness. As they went in pursuit of it, it fled before them. Then it disappeared from their sight alto­ gether, and they could not find it no matter how long they searched. 4 But as they were wandering through these between the legendary Mén (ma) rót of Hungarian tradition (see above p.LV) and our Menrot is further supported by the fact that Ménmarót had several wives in the Anonymus as well (ch. 11) (Kristó, History, 119-28) . 3

Simon undoubtedly knew German (see chs. 10, 11) . Riccardus (the Dominican who wrote clown Julianus' travels in the east in the 1230s) makes a similar comment in linking the "Hungarians" he encountered in the Magyar's land of origin, Hungaria magna (somewhere in Bashkiria) , with those in Hungary (Dörrie, "Texte", 157) . 4

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 5, 250-52. Simon's account is apparently bast!d on Jordanes ( Getica 2 4.123-24) , where the hind leads the hunters to Scythia. The Hungarian deer hunt motif already turns up in the Anonymus (ch. 34), but it is Simon who gives the first detailed version (Kristó, History, 119-28) . However, as the Hungarian traditions of the deer hunt and the abduction of women seem to have had nomadic, oriental origins, perhaps only the stylistic framework is here borrowed from Jordanes.

16

GESTA HUNGARORUM

memoratis, pro armentis nutriendis ipsam conspexerunt oportunam, ad patrem deinde redeuntes ab ipso licentia impetrata cum rebus omnibus paludes Meotidas intra­ verunt moraturi. Regío quidem Meotida Perside patriae est vicina 1 , quam undique pontus praeter vadum unum parvissimum giro vallat, fluminibus penitus carens, herbis, lignis, volatilibus, piscibus et bestiis copiatur. Aditus illuc [SRH, 145] difficilis et exitus. Pafudes autem Meotidas adeuntes annis V. immobilitera permanserunt. Anno ergo VI. exeuntes in deserto loco sine maribus in tabernaculis permanentes uxores ac pueros filiorum Belar2 casu repere­ runt, quos cum rebus eorum in paludes Meotidas cursu celeri deduxerunt. Accidit autem principis Dulae Alano­ rum duas filias inter illos pueros comprehendi, quarum unam Hunor et aliam Mogor sibi sumpsit in uxorem3 • Ex quibus mulieribus omnes Hunni originem assumpsere. Factum est autem, cum diutius in ipsis paludibus perman­ sissent, in gentem validissimam succrescere mceperunt, nec capere eos potuit ipsa regio et nutrire 4. • ibidem H add. 1

T he word patria in Hungarian Latinity of the thirteenth century had begun to acquire emotional overtones; see Deér, "Entstehung." - ln the original source the phrase fluminibus penitus carens probably read fluviis currens, and was modified by Simon from the version in an earlier chronicle. 2 T he abduction of women also features in Jordanes Getica 24.123.T he abduction of the bride, which the laws of the eleventh century Hun­ garian kings condemned, remained part of Hungarian folk custom, even if only in a symbolic form in later times (cf.Stephen 1:27 DRMH 1:6).- T he name Belar in Hungarian tradition refers to the Bulgarians,

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

17

marshes, they saw that the land was well suited for grazing cattle. They then returned to their father, and after obtain­ ing his permission they took all their possessions and went to live in the Meotis marshes. The Meotis region borders on their Persian homeland, 1 and except from one very small ford it is cut off on all sides by the sea; it has no rivers but abounds in grass, trees, birds, fish, and animals; access and exit to this land is difficult. So they entered the Meotis marshes and remained there for five years without leaving. Then in the sixth year they went out, and when by chance they discovered that the wives and children of the sons of Belar2 were camped in tents in a lonely place without their · menfolk, they carried them off with all their belongings as fast as they could into the Meotis marshes. Two daughters of Dula, prince of the Alans, 3 happened to be among the children who were seized. Hunor took one of them in marriage and Mogor the other, and to these women all the Huns owe their origin. And as they stayed on in the marshes, they gradually grew into a very powerful people, and the land was not large enough to contain them or to feed them. 4 cf. the Anonymus, ch. 57 (SRH 1: 114) : de terra B ular (referring to Bilyar, a city in the Volga region of Bulgaria) . 3

T he Alans are mentioned in Jordanes Getica 24.126 and in Riccardus' report (Dörrie, "T exte," 153) . T he name Dula seems to derive from ancient Danubian Bulgar or Alan traditions. Groups of Alans known as ]azon ici (Hung. jász) settled in Hungary in the second half of the thirteenth century (Kristó, History, 121) . 4

The motive of "overpopulation" is frequently mentioned in reference to migrations ( cf. ,Paul the Deacon Historia 1.1; Regino Chronicon ad ann. 889: . . . ut eo� genitale solum non sufficiat alere) , and is cited by all the Hungarian chronicles.

18

GESTA HUNGARORUM

6. Exploratoribus igitur in Scitiam abinde destinatis, Sci­ tiae regno explorato cum pueris et armentis ipsam patriam intravere permansuri. Regnum itaque ipsum dum adissent, Alpzuros et Prutenos in eo invenerunt habitantes 1 , quibus deletis et expulsis usque hodie illud regnum pacifice dino­ scuntur possidere2 • Scitica enim regio in Europa situm habet, extenditur enim versus orientem, ab uno vero latere ponto Aquilonali, ab alio montibus Rifeis includitur a zona torrida distans, de oriente quidem Asiae iungitur. Oriuntur etiam in eodem duo magna flumina, uni nomena Etul et alterius Togora3 . Gentes siquidem in eo regno procreatae otia amplectuntur, vanitatibus deditae, naturae dedignan­ tis, actibus venereis intendentes, rapinas cupiunt, gener­ aliter plus nigrae colore quam albae. Scitico quoque regno de oriente iungitur regnum lorianorum et post haec Tarsia et tandem Mangalia, ubi [SRH, 146] Europa terminatur4. Ex plaga vero aestivali subsolana gens iacet Corosmina, Aethiopia etiam, quae India Minor dicitur5 , ac post haec a

nomine K

1

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 6, 252-55. The Alpidzuri (on their own) are mentioned in Jordanes Getica 24.126. The Prussians often appear in 13th-century historical sources (e.g. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De proprietatibus re­ rum 15.134 and 140) . 2 The route and chronology of the Hungarian migration is still dis­ puted; for an up-to-date overview see Kristó, History, 85-203. 3

For the description of Scythia cf. Justinus 2.2; Regino Chronicon ad ann.889.The Rifean mountains formed an essential part of this tradi­ tional geographical concept. Etul literally means 'river' in Turkic lan­ guages, but Simon, like many medieval writers, identifies it with the Don; descriptions appear in the Anonymus (ch. 7) , Riccardus (Dörrie, "T exte," 157) , and Julianus (ibid. 173) . T he river T ogora appears in Orosius Historia 1.2.44 in the form Ottorogorrae.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

19

6. They therefore sent off scouts to Scythia, and after reconnoitring the realm of Scythia they decided to move to this new home with their children and cattle and settle. But when they entered, they found it was inhabited by Alpidzuri and Prussians; 1 we know that they wiped these people out or expelled them, but thereafter held that king­ dom in peace to! this day. 2 The land of Scythia is situated in Europe but extends towards the east. Far from the torrid zone, it is bounded on one side by the Northern Sea and on the other by the Rifean mountains, while on the east it adjoins Asia. It is the source of two great rivers, one called the Etul and the other the Togora. 3 The races this kingdom breeds are devoted to leisure, given over to vanities, scorn­ ful by nature, libidinous, and delight in raiding; in general they are more dark in colour than white. On the east the realm of Scythia adjoins the kingdom of the Georgians, and after this comes Tarsia, and then Mongolia, and there Europe ends. 4 ln the tropical zone, close to the sun, are situated the Chorasminian people, as well as Ethiopia, which is called India Minor. 5 Farther, south of the course 4

regnum lorianorum is "the kingdom of the Georgians," or perhaps the land Russian annals refer to as Yugra (Monneret, Leggende, 160) . - T he word Tarsia comes from the Persian Tarsa ; in the 13th century it was thought to be the land of the T artars (Bezzola, Mongolen , 34-36) . - T he reference to Mongolia is proof of the author's up-to-date geographical knowledge. 5

T he Chorasminian people take their name from Khwarezm, a widely known geographical name at the time, referring to the area between the lower part of the river Volga and Lake Aral. Members of a Muslim people from the region, the so-called "Káliz," lived in medieval Hun­ gary, performing important military and financial services; see S. Balié, "Islam," 19-35. - India Minor had been mentioned in John of Piano Carpini's itinerary; for the origin of the notion see Monneret, Leggende, 219, and for Ethiopia, cf. Jordanes Getica 6.47.

20

GESTA HUNGARÖRUM

inter meridiem et cursum Don fluvii desertum existit im­ meabile. Fluvius siquidem Don in Scitia oritur, qui ab Hungaris Etul nominatur, sed ut montes Rifeos transit diffluendo, Don est appellatus. Qui tandem in planum effluens currit terram Alanorum postea vero cadit· in Ro­ tundum mare ternisa ramusculis 1 • Togora autem fluvius discurrit de Scitia exiendo per desertas sylvas, paludes ac montes niveos, ubi nunquam sol lucet propter nebulas. Tandem intrat Yrcaniam vergens in mare Aquilonis2 . Lon­ gitudo siquidem Sciticae regionis stadiis CCC. et LX. extendi perhibetur, latitudo vero CXC. 6 Situm enim natu­ ralem habet tam munitum, ut in solo locello parvissimo ibi aditus reperitur. Propter quod nec Romani caesares, nec Magnus Alexander, quamvis attentassent, potuerunt in eam introire3 • Scitia enim solo laeta est, nemoribus, sylvis, herbis venustata et bestiis diversi generis mirabiliter dives ac referta. Habet etiam de occidente vicinos Bessos . et Comanos Albos4. Sed circa mare Aquilonis, quod eidem a trinis K 6 centum viginti H

1

The Round Sea (Rotundum mare) refers to the Caspian Sea (Jordanes

Getica 5). 2

The Northern Sea together with the name Hyrcania and the term

plaga come from Orosius Historia 1.1.2; cf.SRH l, ch.6, pp.253-54.

This fictitious sea is perhaps a bay of the North Sea; Fehér ("Beitrage") identifies it with the Scy thicum mare of Orosius and the S cy thicus Oceanus of Isidore (15.13.2). Simon's description was copied by later Hungarian chroniclers, cf.SRH 1, ch.6, 252-55. 3

According to Jordanes Getica 5.3 3 the territory (circuitus) of the Meotis marshes extended passuum mii. cxliiii ("144 miles") .- Roman emperors and Alexander the Great were mentioned in the Exordia Scy thica (p.320) and by the Anonymus, ch.1.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

21

of the Don there is an impassable desert. The Don in fact rises in Scythia and is called Etul by the Hungarians, but when it makes its way through the Rifean mountains it is referred to as the Don; as it flows into the plains it crosses the lands of the Alans and then empties into the Round Sea by three branches. 1 The river Togora rises in Scythia and passes through wild forests, marshes, and snowy moun­ tains where the sun never shines because of clouds; finally it enters Hyrcania, veering towards the N orthern Sea. 2 The land of Scythia is reported to extend 360 stades in length and 190 in width. The region is well protected by nature and can only be entered by a very small approach. This is why neither the Roman emperors nor Alexander the Great were able to enter it, for all that they tried. 3 For the soil of Scythia is fertile, with lovely woods, forests, and grass­ lands, and an amazing richness and diversity of wildlife. lts neighbours to the west are the Pechenegs and the White Cumans. 4 But around the Northern Sea, which is on its 4

T he Pechenegs are also mentioned in the Anonymus, chs.25 and 57. Before the Hungarians entered the Carpathian Basin, there had been a war between them and the Pechenegs in 895; the Pechenegs then invaded the land between the River Don and the Lower Danube and may have forced the Hungarians to move west. Later, in the second half of the tenth century, some of the Pechenegs came to settle in Hungary, performing military duties as a warrior people. - T he White Cumans are mentioned in the Anonymus, ch. 8 etc. ln the eleventh century, their territories were east of the Lower Danube. T he Arab geographer al-Idrisi (1100-1166) located White and Black Cumania by the Northern and Eastern shores of the Black Sea respectively. ln other languages the name given to some of the Cumans meant 'pale, light, yellowish, ' in other words, something more or less "white" (Györffy, Krónikáink, 90) .

22

GESTA HUNGARORUM.

vicinatur, usque regnum Susdaliae est desertum sylvestre humano generi immeabile, quod ad magnum spatium ex­ tendi perhibetur, ubi nubium densitas per novem menses iacet. Ibi nec sol cernitur, nisi tantummodo in Iunio, Iulio ac Augusto, et id in tanta diei hora, quantum a VI. est usque nonam. ln montibus etenim deserti memorati cristallus invenitur et grifo nidum parat, avesque legerfalc, quae Hungarice kerechet appellantur, procreare pullos dino­ scuntur 1 . Sciticum enim regnum comprehensione una cingitur, sed in regna tria dividitur principando, scilicet in Barsatiam, Denciam et Mogoriam2 • Habet etiam provincias centum et octo propter centum et octo progenies, quae dudum per filios Hunor et Magor, quando Scitiam invaserunt, sunt divisae3 . Centum enim et octo generationes pura tenet

1

Susdal was a Russian principality east of Moscow which had gained considerable political significance by the end of the twelfth century.As to the region with the limited periods of sunshine, similar remarks were made later by Marco Polo 3.44; see Macartney, Early sources, 125. - For the crystal see Solinus Collectanea 15.22, 15.29, 16.2. - For the griffon see Herodotus, books 3 and 4, and Pomponius Mela De situ orbis 2.1.- The name Simon uses for hunting falcons, legerfalc, comes from the German Gerfalke or]agerfalk, apparently the bird of preyfalco venaticus. The Hungarian equivalent, kerecset, of Slavic origin, survives in Hungarian geographical names referring to places where falconers were settled. The bird is also mentioned in the itinerarium of the Minorite Benedictus Polonus (fi.1247) (Sinica, vol.1, ch. 5) . 2

Fictitious kingdoms. Barsatia probably derives from Bascardia, land of the Bashkirs, east of Great Bulgaria, where thirteenth century travellers (Julianus, John of Piano Carpini, Benedictus Polonus, and William of Rubruck) found Hungarians in Magna Hungaria. For Den-

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

23

border, as far as the realm of Susdal there is a wilderness of forest impassable to human beings, which is believed to extend a vast distance; dense clouds cover it for nine months of the year, the sun being seen only in Jurte, July, and August, and then only between the sixth and ninth hours of the day. ln the mountains of this wilderness crystal is found, and there the griffon makes its nest, and the hunting falcons called in Hungarian kerecset raise their chicks. 1 ln fact the Scythian realm has a single border, but admin­ istratively it is divided into three kingdoms, namely Barsa­ tia, Dencia, and Mogoria. 2 As well, it has 108 districts, representing 108 families, which were divided among the sons of Hunor and Mogor long ago when they had invaded Scythia. 3 For the pure Hungarian nation comprises a huncia and Mogoria the probable source is the word Dentumoger in the Anonymus, ch. 1. 3

T here are different explanations for the number 108. According to Györffy ( Tanulmány ok, 1 4- 1 5) , it derives from a no longer extant register of the Hungarian kindreds in King Coloman's time. Others have maintained that it is the sum of 100 and the seven Hungarian tribes plus the Kabar people, who came to Hungary around A.D. 895, or (e.g. Kulcsár, "Magyar ősmonda") that as a multiple of 54 it is a magic number of Jewish cabalistic traditions. T he number of Hungarian clans at the time of the conquest is estimated to have been around 35 to 50, varying with the estimates of the number of chieftains and tribes (Kristó, "Néhány megjegyzés", 963) . From the Middle Ages as a whole some 200 kindreds are documented, about 40% of which are only mentioned once. Simon's estimate of 108 clans is therefore reasonable. Simon is at variance with the Anonymus here, because the latter believed that all the later Hungarian clans and kindreds descended from the seven conquering chieftains.

24

GESTA HUNGARORUM

Hungaria et non plures 1 • Aliae autem, si quae ipsis sunt coniunctae, advenae sunt vel ex captivis oriundi, quoniama ex Hunor et Mogor in palude Meotida centum et octo progenies absque omni missitalia fuere generatae. Quorum ergo advenarum generatio in fine huius libri apponetur seriatim2 • [SRH, 147] 7. Igitur in aetate sexta saeculi multiplicati Huni in Scitia habitando ut arena 3 , anno Domini septingentesimo in unum congregati, capitaneos 4 inter se, scilicet duces vel principes praefecerunt, quorum unus Wela6 fuit, Chele filec filius ex genere Zemem d oriundus, cuius fratres Cuwee et Caducha ambo capitanei. Quarti vero ducis nomen Ethela fuit, Bendacuz filius, cuius fratres Reuwaf et Buda uterque

quum K 6 Vela H

a

e

T helae filiae H, T hele file E; file est omitteridum

d

Zemein E

e

Cuve H

f Reuva H

1

T he expression "pure Hungarian nation" can be understood in the context of a common legal practice in Italian city-states at the time which made a distinction between original citizens (cives veri, origi­ narii, etc.) and newly settled inhabitants. When talking about the mingling of these two groups, the verb mischiare was used, probably

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

25

dred and eight kindreds and no more; 1 any additional ones are immigrants or the descendants of captives, for 108 clans were begotten by Hunor and Mogor in the marsh of Meotis without any admixture. The family histories of these new­ comers will be listed at the end of this book. 2 7. ln the sixth age of the world the Huns dwelling in Scythia had "multiplied like the sand." 3 ln the year of Our Lord 700 they came together and put themselves under the command of captains, 4 that is, leaders or princes. V ela, son of Csele, of the clan of Szemény was one of these; his brothers Keve and Kadocsa were also captains. The name of the fourth was Attila, son of Bendegúz, and his brothers

the basis of Simon's strange term missitalia "admixture" (see Szűcs, above p. LXIII; Riesenberg, "Citizenship" ; Veszprémy, "Kézai"; Hoff­ mann, "Outsider �").

2

Cf. chs. 76-94 below.

3

Cf. SRH 1 , ch. 7, 255-57. "Like the sand" is biblical, e.g. Gen. 22: 1 8, Ps. 1 38: 1 7. 4

T he year 700 is fictitious, though 445 A.D. for the murder of Bleda and 453 A.D. for Attila's death were known to medieval chroniclers (see also note 1, pp. 78-79) ; the date may have been chosen to make a closer chronological connection with the Hungarian conquest, in which Attila's grandsons are alleged to have participated. -The term "captain" may derive from Italian usage, where it applied to community leaders in communes elected for a fixed period, but was not unknown in Hungarian Latinity of Simon's time either; a charter from around 1280 uses the term nobiles capitanei for county magistrates (Györffy, Krónikáink, 191-92) .

26

GESTA HUNGARORUM

duces extitere de genere Erd oriundi 1 ut simul uno corde occidentales occuparent regiones. Constituerunt quo­ que inter se rectorem unum nomine Kadar de genere

1

T here existed two forms in Hungarian for the leader of the Huns, Attila and Etela; the German equivalent of the latter is Etzel (LexMA 4: 61-63) . T he Attila tradition is for the first time linked to Hungary in the Annals of Lambert of Hersfeld (A nnales ad ann. 1071, MGH SS 5:185 = FvS 13: 150) , in which we are told that Attila's sword was presented to Otto of Nordheim by the widow of the Hungarian king Andrew I in 1063. On the basis of the Nibelungenlied Hungary was identified as the land of the Huns in the twelfth century. However, there was initially no mention of a specific town of Attila, Etzelen bürge (LexMA 4: 63-64) . Before Simon all Hungarian chronicles, e.g. the Anonymus (ca. 1200) , the Chronicon Hungarico-Polonicum (ca. the 1220s) , and the History of T homas ofSpalato (d. 1268) , assumed a relationship between Hun and Hungarian history. lt is still a matter of debate whether the Hungarians learned of the legend of Attila from the Germans or whether they heard about it from other nomadic tribes while still roaming the steppes long before their conquest of the homeland ( cf. Kulcsár, "Magyar ősmonda"; Kristó, History, 71-84) . Attila and Buda apart, the names of the Hunnish chieftains are ficti­ tious. Of the clans named, no documents survive about the Érd; Érd is a settlement near present Budapest, mentioned in contemporary char­ ters and notable for Roman ruins, but a clan of this name do not seem to have achieved distinction. - T he identification of the Szemény clan or family is uncertain; a Zemeyn centurio appears in a legal suit about T árnokvöl gy in 1259 (Horváth, Stílusproblémák, 363; Mályusz-Kristó, Commentarii, 1: 87) . Others suggested that they are identical with the Szemere, mentioned by the Anonymus (Bollók, "Kézai", 120) . - T he

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

27

Reva and Buda were also leaders; they were of the Érd clan. 1 And they were all united in their purpose to conquer the lands of the west. ln addition, they chose from their number one judge, Kádár by name, of the kindred of

name Buda derives from the historical Bleda, mentioned in the Getica, the name of Attila's brother, but was influenced by that of the place commonly associated with Attila's headquarters in Hungary, Óbuda (now a district of Budapest) . As a Hungarian persona! name, Buda is documented from 1138 (Fehértói, Személynévtár, 66-67) . - Vela could derive from a geographical name in Riccardus' itinerary (Dörrie, "T exte," 155) : venerunt in terram Sarracenorum, que vocatur Veda in civitatem Bundaz. lt has also been associated with a Hungarian given name, Béla, and with Veleg, a place in County Fejér (Horváth, "Hun­ történet", 471, 475) . - T he name Csele also occurs as a geographical name. - Keve derives from Keveaszó or Keveháza (today Ka­ jászószentpéter in County Fejér) , mentioned in several contemporary charters (Györffy, ÁMTF, 2 : 389-90) ; as a persona! name Keve is documented from 1138 (Fehértói, Személynévtár, 192-93) . - Kadocsa and Szovárd resemble the names recorded of Hungarians who, accord­ ing to the Anonymus (ch. 7) , stayed in the East. - Bendegúz, Attila's father, is called "Mundzuco" in the Getica, but the connection between the two forms is unclear. T he name has also been associated with the "Bundaz" mentioned in Riccardus' itinerary (see above) and with a settlement between Érd and Százhalom (Horváth, "Hun történet", 469) . - Reva is perhaps based on a name Roas in the Getica (35.180) , or related to the word rév, Hungarian for 'ferry,' or is a corruption of the name Keve (Horváth, "Hun-történet", 469-70) . Vela, Csele, Keve, Kadocsa, Bendegúz, Reva, and Buda are unique inventions of Simon (or of an earlier author of a Hungarian-Hunnish history) , and do not appear outside Hungary.

28

GESTA HUNGARORUM

Turda 1 oriundum, qui communem exercitum iudicaret, dis­ sidentium lites sopiret, castigaret malefactores, fures ac latrones. Ita quidem, ut si rector idem immoderatam sen­ tentiam definiret, communitas2 in irritum revocaret, erran­ tem capitaneum et rectorem deponeret quando vellet. Consuetudo etenim ista legitima inter Hunos sive Hun­ garos usque ad tempora ducis Geyche filii Tocsun3 invio­ labilitdr extitit observata. Antequam ergo baptizati fuissent Hungari et effecti Christiani, sub tali voce precones m castris ad exercitum Hungaros adunabant: "Vox Dei et populi Hungarici4, quod die tali unusquisque armatus m

1

T he original source of the quotation "they chose ... " is Lactantius

Institutiones 1.1.12, borrowed by Isidore Etymologiarum libri. 5.14, and later verbatim into Gratian (Decretum 1, Dist.2, ch. 5, ed. Friedberg,

4, 7) ; however, the immediate source seems to be the Anonymus ( ch. 53) (see Gerics, "Domanovszky") .- Kádár is again a fictitious name. lt could be associated with the word karcha, i.e. judge, used at the time of the conquest, or with the tit!e of similar form referring to a Khazar dignitary. T he author may well have encountered the word in Hungar­ ian geographical names. T he office of karcha was in many ways similar to the later Hungarian count palatine (lstványi, "Congregatio", 54) .T he assertion of the rights of the communitas against the dignitaries is thought to derive part!y from the Golden Buli of 1 222 (1222:14, DRMH i:35) and partly from the behaviour of Italian communes towards their podestds (Horváth, "Hun-történet," 472; Gerics, "Kró­ nikáink," 316-17) . - The connection with the little known T orda (or T urda) clan is unclear; Simon was possibly inspired by a place-name T ordas or T urdas near Keveaszó (Györffy, ÁMTF, 2: 411) . 2

Communitas and commune are important technical terms iri the Gesta Hungarorum, expressing Simon's political theories (see Szűcs, above

pp. LXXXVI-XCVI) .

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

29

Torda: 1 he was to mete out judgement among the rank and file of the host, to settle quarrels between those in dispute, and to punish wrongdoers, thieves, and brigands. But if the judge should hand clown an inordinate sentence, the com­ munity2 could declare it invalid and have the errant captain and judge removed whenever it wanted. This custom was the law and strictly observed among the Huns (that is, Hungarians) up to the times of their duke Géza, the son of Taksony. 3 Thus in the days before the Hungarians had been baptised and became Christians, the criers in the camp would summon together the Hungarian host with the following proclamation: "It is the word of God and of the Hungarian people 4 that on such-and-such a day every man

3

Simon dates the end of the old tribal (pagan) world by reference to Grand Prince Géza (d. 997) . Taksony was a Hungarian prince, the grandson of Á rpád and father of Géza; he is also mentioned by Constantine Porphyrogenitos, (De administrando imperio 40, p. 1 79) : ". . . Zaltas had a son Taxis." The pronunciation of the name Géza is reconstructed as ,:-'Djeücha' or ,:-'Djeüsha' in old Hungarian, and is pre�erved in geographical names like Décs, Decső. The decision to lead Hungary into the European Christian world was indeed made by Géza. ln 973 he sem envoys to the imperial diet at Quedlinburg and requested missionary bishops. ln the 990s Géza secured a marriage for his son Vajk/Stephen with the Bavarian princess Gisela, sister of the future emperor Henry 11; see Szabolcs de Vajay, "Grossfürst Géza." 4

Cf. Vox populi vox Dei (Proverbia sententiaque latinitatis medii aevi, 2: 5, No. 919, 34 182) ; it also occurs in a charter of the Hungarian king Béla IV in 1253 (RA no. 991) . - Royal criers are referred to in a letter of Charles IV, king of Sicily, dealing with Hungarian matters (Wenczel, Diplomacziai emlékek, 47-48) .

30

GESTA HUNGARORUM

tali loco praecise debeat comparere communitatis consi­ lium praeceptumque auditurus". Quicunque ergo edic­ tum contempsisset praetendere non valens [SRH, 148] rationem, lex Scitica per medium cultro huiusmodia · de­ truncabat, vel exponi in causas desperatas, aut detrudi in communium servitutem 1 . Vitia itaque et excessus huius­ modi 6 unum Hungarum ab alio separavit, alias cum unus pater et lina mater omnes Hungaros procreaverit, quomo­ doc unus nobilis, alter innobilis diceretur, nisi victus per tales casus criminis haberetur2 • 8. Tunc de tribubus centum et octo elegerunt viros fortes ad bellandum, assumentes de quolibet genere decem millia armatorum, aliis in Scitia derelictis, qui eorum regnum ab hostibus custodirent elevatisque baneriis3 egredientes Bes-

a

huius K

6 huius K e

1

quorum K

This "Scythian law" is perhaps based 9n a Roman law, the Lex lulia maiestatis (Digesta 48.1.1, Institutiones 4.18.3-11; see Szűcs, above p. LXXX) , or the customary law of the Székely; for, according to 16th-century tradition, participants in their folk assemblies had the right to publicly kill by sword those persons who acted against their liberties and privileges (Horváth, "Hun történet," 473 ) . - "Hopeless situations" corresponds to a technical term in Roman law referring to serious cases of criminal offence ( capitalia in causas desperatas) , see Szűcs, above p. LXXXI, and Gerics, "Adalékok", 112. Norman law in Southern ltaly (Assise di Ariano) inflicted the same punishment on deserters (Cuozzo, Normanni, 71).

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

31

in arms shall present himself without fail in such-and-such a place to listen to the counsel of the community and to hear their instructions." If anyone dared to defy the com­ mand without being able to offer -a reason, Scythian law decreed that he be cut in half, or exposed to hopeless situ­ ations, or degraded to communal enslavement. 1 Thus, it was such offences and excess that separated one Hungarian from another; otherwise, since one father and one mother were the ancestors of all the Hungarians, how could one be termed noble and the other not noble, unless he was judged to be proved so by such blameworthy behaviour? 2 8. They next chose strong fighting men out of the 108 tribes, taking 10,000 men at arms from every kindred and leaving the others in Scythia to protect their land from enemies. Then the banners3 were raised and they set out. 2

Bondage as a punishment for dodging military duties has precedents in French (Pseudo- Turpin Chronicle; Philippe de Beaumanoir, Coutu­ mes de Beauvaisis) and in Catalan legal practice (Spiegel, Romancing the Past, 86; Szűcs, above pp. LXXVII-LXXVIII; Freedman, "Cowardice," 6-14) . lt is an open question whether the remarks of the French chronicler Alberic de T roisfontaines on Hungarian historical events in 955 (totum populum, qui non exierat cum eis ad bellum, in servitutem redigerunt "the whole people, who had not gone out to war with them were reduced to servitude"), quoted in Chronicon ab orbe condito usque ad a. 1241 (MGH SS 23, ad ann. 957) , are based on authentic informa­ tion from Hungary or on the same legendary traditions as in France (Györffy, Krónikáink, 1 9 1 ) . 3 Cf. SRH 1 , ch. 8, 257-59. This is the first datable occurrence of ban (d) erium in Hungarian Latinity, a borrowing from Italian. ln the

1 4th century the term came to refer to the major part of the Hungarian armed forces, units (banderia) consisting of 50-400 men serving under the banners of the king, the queen, and the great lords lay and spiritual.

32

GESTA HUNGARORUM

sorum et Comanorum Alborum terras transirent. Deinde Sosdaliam Rutheniam 1 et Nigrorum Comanorum terras ingressi tandem usque Tize fluvium salvis rebus2 , invitis gentibus praefatis pervenerunt. Qua quidem regione cir­ cumspecta omni caetui complacuit non incedere ulterius cum armentis et família. Cum uxoribus etenim tabernaculis et bigis descenderant de eorum terra. Cumque eo tempore Pannoniam, Panfiliam, Frigiam, Macedoniam, Dalma­ tiamque tetrarcha Macrinusa, natione Longobardus, urbe [SRH, 149] Sabaria oriundus gubernaret armis bellicis in­ formatus3 , audito, quod Hunni super Tizam resedissent et de die in diem lacerarent regnum eius, cum alumnis regni sui4 ipsos aggredi reformidans, ad Romanos suos nuncios

a

Macritius K

1

The Hungarians' route through the lands of the Pechenegs, the White Cumans, and Susdal follows the Anonymus ( chs. 7 and 8) . The Black Cumans and the White Cumans are both mentioned by al-Idrisi (see note 4, p. 21) . 2

The author denies the losses of the advancing Hungarians. According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus (De administrando imperio 40, p. 177) , "the Petchenegs with Symeon [of Bulgaria] came against the Turks [i.e. the Hungarians] and completely destroyed their families and miserably expelled thence the Turks who were guarding their country." 3

The name Macrinus possibly derives from the name of the Caesar Marcianus (450-57) , mentioned in the Getica (49.255) as princeps orientis ; in some manuscripts Marcianus is a variant for Macrinus. Another explanation is that it was taken from Roman inscriptions bearing the names Macrin (i) us referring to legati augusti and praefecti

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

33

They crossed the lands of the Pechenegs and the White Cumans, passed through Susdal, 1 Ruthenia, and the lands of the Black Cumans, and in spite of the hostility of these peoples finally reached the river Tisza without loss of their possessions. 2 After surveying the region all the clans came to a decision not to advance farther with their herds and their people; for they had brought their wives, tents, and carts with them when they left their land. At that time Pannonia, Pamphylia, Phrygia, Macedonia, and Dalmatia were under the administration of the tetrarch Macrinus, a Lombard from the city of Sabaria experienced in military matters. 3 On learning that the Huns had halted by the river Tisza and were daily plundering his territory, he was reluc­ tant to retaliate with forces recruited only from his fellow­ countrymen. 4 Instead, he sent messengers to the Romans

of Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior respectively in the 2nd and 3rd centuries (Mócsy-Fitz, Pannonia, 56-57, 75) . On the other hand, Orosius (Historia 7.18) records the name Macrinus in a different context in connection with a geographic name (apud) Archelaidem ; and Simon mentions a similar persona! name later, cf. note 4, p. 59 - Simon connects Macrinus with Sabaria (modern Szombathely) perhaps be­ cause of the Roman ruins there or because he had read the Life of St. Martin, which mention that Martin was born in that city. T hese ruins were impressive even in the fifteenth century: . . . Sabaria vetusta olim civitas, cuius apparent adhuc multa vestigia, inter quae spectantur colum­ nae ex�miae magnitudinis . . . (Ransanus, Epithoma, 64-65) . T he source for the list of provinces ruled by Macrinus is the Exordia Scythica (p.

318), which lists: "Asia, Grecia, Macedonia, Syria, I udea, Arabia, Dal­ macia, Frigia, Pamphilia, Damascus. " 4

For this use of alumni ("fellow-countrymen"), cf. the Legend of Se Stephen, SRH 2: 380, 405, and below ch. 60.

34

GESTA HUNGARORUM

destinavit, contra Hunnos petiturus gentem et auxilium commodari. Ex parte etenim Romanorum in praedictis patriis imperabat. Tunc Romani Ditricum Veronensem, Alamannum nacione 1 , illo in tempore super se regem prae­ fecerant voluntarie, quem petentes, ut Macrino subsidium importaret; Ditrico ergo animo gratantia annuente egressus cum exercitu Italico, Germanico ac caeteris mixtis gentibus occidentis, pervenit ad6 Zazholm, ubi ipsi Longobardi con­ venerant, ad Potentianam civitatem2 , pertractans cum Ma­ crino consilium, utrum Hunos in eorum descensu, Danu­ bium transiendo, vel in alio loco congruenti invadere oporteret. 9. ln istis itaque tractatibus Ditrico Macrinoque residen­ tibus, noctis silentio super utres Huni Danubium in Si­ cambria transierunt 3 , exercitum Macrini et Ditrici, quem a

6

constanti H in H, E

1

Simon conflates the Dietrich of Bern of the Nibelungenlied with the historical Gothic king T heodoric, just as the legendary cycles of Dietrich and Attila mingled in epics like the mid-12th century Kaiserchronik (Williams, Etzel, 149-50; Gesta Theodorici regis, MGH SSrerMerov 2: 202) ).Attila and Dietrich of Bern are linked from the eleventh century on (Williams, Etzel, 205). Possibly Simon was also inspired by a contemporary ispán Detricus (1243-75) , whose reckless deeds of val­ our were commemorated in Hungarian royal charters (Györffy, Króni­ káink, 190) . 2

Százhalom: modern Százhalombatta. T he name means 'one hundred hills,' referring to burial hills of Ce!tic origin. T here was a Roman sett!ement called Matrica between Érd and Százhalom, whose remains were still visible in Simon's time.Százhalom is also mentioned by the Anonymus, ch. 46. - Potentia (modern Polenza) was the site of a

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

35

asking them to provide people and help against the Huns; for Macrinus was governing the aforementioned coumries on the authority of the Romans. At that time the Romans of their free will had chosen Dietrich of Bern, of the German nation, 1 to be their king, and they asked him t o take aid to Macrinus . Dietrich agreed willingly. Setting out with a mixed army of Italians, Germans, and other Western peoples, he reached Százhalom, where the Lombards them­ selves had gathered, and the city of Potentia. 2 He and Macrinus debated their s ttategy: whether to cross the Danube and fall upon the Huns in their settlement, or . whether to attack them in some other more suitable place. 9. While Dietrich and Macrinus sat and deliberated, the Huns cros sed the Danube at Sicambria in the silence of the night, swimming over on inflated bladders. 3 The army of famous battle in 402 between the Romans and the Goths CTordanes Getica 30.154) ; the eleventh-century Chronicon Novaliciense 5.29 (MGH SS 7: 117) speaks of the Huns but confuses Potentia with Aquileia; while for Pollentia as a site in Hunnish history see Cordt, A ttila, 18. 3

Cf.SRH 1, ch. 9, 259-60.T he Anonymus, ch. 7 also refers to the use of inflated bladders by · nomads (cf. Eckhardt, "Pannóniai hun történet", 611-12).- ln the legends of the T rojan origin of the Franks, Sicambria was a place near the marshland of Meotis, in the area of Pannoniarum, where the roaming Franks sojourned for a time (Ger­ berding, Rise of Carolingians , 11-30, 173; Eckhardt, "Sicambria", 166-97) . ln the 12th century, historical sources still identified Sicam­ bria with Scythia-Godfrey of Viterbo describes it as Ungaria Vetus (Pantheon , 201)-but the same writer in his Speculum regum and Memoria seculorum already locates it in Hungary (MGH SS 22: 61, 104).From the fourteenth century (and in Simon) it is identified with modern Óbuda (e.g.Anonymi Descriptio Europae Orientalis, 44).

36

GESTA HUNGARORUM

capere Potentia non potuit, in tentoriis campis commo­ rantem crudeliter trucidarunt. Pro qua enim invasione Ditricus acerbatus in campum Tawarnucwega exivit 1 cum Hunnis committens praelium cum suorum et Macrini maximo interitu ac periculo. Fertur tamen Hunnos in hoc loco potenter devicisse. Hunnorum autem residuum [SRH, 150] in sua est reversum arrepta fuga tabernacula. ln eo enim praelio ex Hunnis virorum centum millia et XXV . millia corruerunt, Cuwe6 ·2 etiam capitaneo ibidem · interfecto. De militia vero Ditrici et Macrini, exceptis illis, qui in suis tentoriis ante urbem memoratam fuerant truci­ dati, ducentena millia et decem millia perierunt. Videns ergo Ditricus tantam caedem suorum accidisse, die altera post congressum praelii perrexit versus Tulnam civitatem3 curh Macrino. Tunc Huni intellecto, quod Macrinus et Ditricus de loco certaminis removissent sua castra, reversi ad locum certaminis, sociorum cadavera, quaec poterant invenire, Cuwemque d capitaneum prope stratam, ubi sta­ tua est erecta lapidea, more Scitico solemniter terrae com­ mendarunt, partesque illius territorii Cuwe-Azoa e . 4 post T avarnucveg H 6 Cuve H

a

e

qui K

d Cuvemque H e

Cuve Azoa H

1

Támokvölgy (from Hung. tárnok 'a royal servitor in charge of sup­ plies' and völgy 'valley') , 25 km South of Budapest. Mentioned in conterriporary charters. 2

For Keve see note 1, p.27.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

37

Macrinus and Dietrich was camped out Ín the fields, since Potentia was too small to hold them. The Huns fell upon their tents and massacred them without mercy. lncensed at this raid, Dietrich marched out to the field of Tár­ nokvölgy 1 to engage the Huns, and in spite of the peril and heavy losses to his and Macrinus's forces he is nevertheless said to have won a decisive victory. The remainder of the Huns fled back to their tents. 125,000 Hunnish warriors fell in the battle, including their captain Keve; 2 but 210,000 men perished from the forces of Dietrich and Macrinus, not counting those butchered Ín their tents before Sicam­ bria. Seeing the massacre his men had suffered, Dietrich set out with Macrinus the day after the battle for the city of Tulln. 3 When the Huns were sure that Macrinus and Diet­ rich haq broken camp and quit the battlefield, they re­ turned to the battlefield and gathered the bodies of the companions they could find, and then solemnly buried them and their captain Keve according to Scythian rites at a place by the highway where a stone statue is erected. Thereafter they referred to that part of their territory as Keveaszó. 4 Having now experienced the fighting spirit and 3

Tulln: a city by the Danube north of Vienna; mentioned as Tulne Ín the Nibelungenlied.Simon probably visited it during his travels. 4

Till 1928 there was a two meter high a!tar stone with a dedication to Jupiter Ín Keveaszó; this, or some similar impressive Roman statue or milestone, possibly gave rise to a local historical tradition Guhász, "Baracskai kő") . The stone statute is mentioned in the Anonymi De­ scriptio Europae Orientalis ( 44) : Ungari . . . pugnaverunt in campo magno . . . et in signum uictoriae perpetuum erexerunt ibi lapidem marmoreum permaximum, ubi est scripta prefata uictoria, qui adhuc perseverat usque in hodiernum diem. Keve happens to mean in old Hungarian 'stone,' but this is a coincidence.

38

GESTA HUNGARORUM

haca vocaverunt. Cognita itaque armorum et animi occi­ dentis nationis qualitate et quantitate, Huni animum re­ summendo, exercitu resarcito adversus Ditricum et Ma­ crinum versus Tulnam pugnaturi perrexerunt. Quorum adventum Ditricus ut cognovit, in Cezunmaur 1 eis contra­ venit6 , et a mane usque nonam praelium est commissum tam vehemens ac hostile, ut Welac, Rewad et Caducha, Hunnorum illustres capitanei cum aliis XL. millibus in ipso certamine interirent2 • Quorum etiam cadavera abinde re­ moventes apud statuam memoratam cum caeteris sociis subterrarunt. Occubuit quoque Macrinus ex Romano ex­ ercitu ipso die et quamplures principes Germanorum Ditri­ co per iaculum in fronte lethaliter vulnerato et quasi toto exercitu occidentis interempto ac fugato. 1 0. Postquam vero exercitus se dispersit, Romano more3 Huni super se Ethelam regem praeficiunt, ipseque Budam fratrem suum de flumine Tizee usque Don super diversas exteras nationes principem constituit ac rectorem. Ipse autem seipsum Hunorum [SRH, 151] regem metum orbis, flagellum Dei a subiectis suis fecit appellari. Erat enim rex

hoc H, E 6 convenit H, E a

e

Vela H

d Reva H e Tiza H 1

Zieselmauer: between Vienna and Tulln, a settlement of Roman origin, Zeizenmure in the Nibelungenlied (Ploss, "Zeizenmure", 1 2 ) .

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

39

strength of the Westerners in quality and numbers alike, the Huns found fresh courage, replenished their host, and set out for Tulln to do battle with Dietrich and Macrinus. Learning of their approach Dietrich marched out to meet them at Zieselmauer. 1 The battle lasted from morning to the ninth hour and was so furious and bitter that the illustrious captains of the Huns Vela, Reva, and Kadocsa were killed in the fighting along with forty thousand of their men. 2 Again they removed the bodies of the slain and buried them near the aforementioned statue with their comrades. The Roman army, too, suffered hugely that day: Macrinus perished along with a number of German princes, Dietrich was fatally wounded in the forehead by a javelin, and virtually the whole of the Westem army was killed or put to flight. 1 0. After the dispersal of the army the Huns, following Roman custom, 3 made Attila their king, and Attila named his brother Buda prince and arbiter over the different foreign nations from the river Tisza to the Don. Attila had his subjects address him as King of the Huns, the Terror of the World, and the Scourge of God. Attila's skin was an 2

ln ch. 1 1 we find the expression a mane usque noctem "from morning to night"; but the present reading is supported by Jordanes' account: circa nonam diei horam proelium sub trepidatione committit ( Getica 37.1 96) .- As historical references to these three captains were non­ existent, they are killed off at this point Ín the story. They were originally created to make up the number of the Hungarian chieftains, which together with Kádár was held to be seven. 3

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 1 0, 260-63. The meaning of "following Roman custom" is explained by the parallel Ín ch. 8: Romani . . . super se regem prefecerant voluntarie; see Szűcs, above p.XCV.

40

GESTA HUNGARORUM

Ethela colore teter, oculis nigris et furiosis, pectore lato, elatus incessu, statura brevis, barbam prolixam cum Hun­ nis deferebat. Audaciae quidem temperantis erat, in praeliis astutus et solicitus, suo corpore competentis fortitudinis habebatur. ln voluntate siquidem magnanimus, politis ar­ mis, mundis tabernaculis cultuque utebatur. Erat enim venereus ultra modum. ln archa sua aes tenere contemne­ bat, propter quod ab extera natione amabatur, eo quod liberalis esset ac communis. Ex natura vero severitasa, quam habebat, a suis Hunnis mirabiliter timebatur. Nationes ideoque regnorum diversorum ad ipsum de finibus orbis terrae confluebant, quibus pro posse liberaliter affluebat. Decem enim millia curruum falcatorum in suo exercitu deferri faciebat cum diversis generibus machinarum, qui­ bus urbes et castra destrui faciebat. Tabernacula etiam variis modis regnorum diversorum habere consueverat op­ erata. Unum habebat sic celebre et solemne, ut ex laminis aureis mirifice coniunctim solidatum, modo solvi et nunc reconiungi ad tendentium staret voluntatem. Columnae cuius ex auro laboratae habentes iunctiones, opera ductilia, in medio tamen vacuae, in iuncturis suis pretiosis lapidibus iungebantur mirabiliter fabricatae. Sed etiam sua maristalla, dum pergeret in exercitum, equis diversarum patriarum replebatur, quos, quamvis visus esset habuisse [caros] b, largiter egentibus tribuebat, ita quidem, ut vix duos haberet aliquando pro usu equitandi. lstae ergo maristallae ex pur­ pura et bisso habebant paraturam. Sellae vero regales ex auro et lapidibus pretiosis fuerant laboratae. Mensa autem eius erat tota aurea, vasa etiam coquinarum. Thalamus a s everitatem K, ex nimia vero s everitate E 6 caros add. Domanovszky in editione

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

41

ugly colour; his eyes were dark and wild, his chest wide, his gait proud; he was short of stature, and he wore a long beard in the Hunnish fashion. He was daring but tempered in courage, with a reputation for astuteness and caution in battle and physical strength to match. He was magnani­ mous in the expression of his will. His arms were polished, his tents and his clothing clean. He was, Ín fact, inordi­ nately lustful. Money he scorned to hoard, and on this account he was loved by foreign peoples, for being open­ handed and free; whereas his own people marvellously feared the severity of his temperament. The people of different realms therefore journeyed to hím from the ends of the world, and he dispensed to them freely of whatever he owned. ln his army he had ten thousand scythed chari­ ots as well as diverse kinds of engines of war for bringing clown cities and castles. He had a variety of tents in the styles of different nations. One he often used was fitted with gold plates linked together in a wonderful way which could be taken apart and put together again as the per­ sons putting it up desired; its poles were of gold and had finely-worked metal junctures but were empty in their middle, and were marvellously crafted and linked, with precious stones at their joins. When he went on cam­ paign he filled his stable with horses frorp different coun­ tries; he evidently treasured them, but bestowed them freely on whoever had need of them, so that at times he barely had two to ride on. These stables were decked in velvet and fine linen. The king's chairs were wrought of gold and precious stones; his table and even his kitchen equipment were completely of gold; his bed was of the

42

GESTA HUNGARORUM

quidem eius ex auro purissimo laboratu mirifico in exercitu secum ferebatur. Expeditio autem eius praeter exteras na­ tiones decies centenis armatorum millibus replebatur, ita quidem, ut si unum Sciticum decedere [SRH, 152] con­ tigisset, alter pro ipso confestim ponebatur. Sed arma gen­ tis eius ex corio maxime et etiam metallis variis diversimode fuerant laborata, ferens arcus, cultros et lanceas 1 . Banerium quoque regis Ethelae, quod in proprio scuto gestare con­ sueverat, similitudinem avis habebat, quae Hungarice turul dicitur, in capite cum corona. Istuda enim banerium Hunni usque tempora ducis Geichae h, dum se regerent pro com­ muni, in exercitu semper secum gestavere 2 • ln istis itaque et aliis pompis huiusmodi Ethela rex Hunnorum prae cae­ teris regibus sui temporis gloriosior erat in hoc mundo. Civitatum, castrorum et urbium dominus fieri cupiebat et super illas dominari, habitare vero in ipsis contemnebat. Cum gente enim sua in campis cum tabernaculis et bigis • illud H, E 6 Geiche H 1

T he description of Attila-is based on Getica, ch. 35, and Pantheon , ch. 17. Other details may come from a putative Hungarian version of the Alexander romance, which survived in a South Slavic translation (Hada rovics, "Nagy Sándor-regény") . The description of Attila's court­ which according to Jordanes was plain and modest-may have been influenced by German epic tradition as in the Nibelungenlied (Wil­ liams, Etzel, 257) . - The phrase "Scourge of God" is biblical ( cf. Isa. 10:26) and was first used of Alarich's Goths in 410 by St. Augustine (De civitate Dei 1.8) . - For nationes . . . ("the people of different realms . . . ") cf. the Anonymus, ch. 43: nationes . . . confluebant ad ducem Arpad. A similar description occurs in the 13th Liber Attila (p. 111; see Cordt, A ttila, 24-26) . - The word maristalla ("stable") is from Middle

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

43

purest gold and of wonderful workmanship, and he carried it with him on his campaigns. His host consisted of fully a million men-at-arms not counting for(!ign nations, and if one Scythian happened to die he was immediately replaced by another. The armour of his soldiers, however, was of different materials, chiefly of hide but of various metals as well, and they carried bows, knives, and lances. 1 King Attila's banner bore the image of the bird the Hungarians call turu l, with a crown on its head, and this emblem he carried on his own shield. ln fact, until the time of Duke Géza this flag was always carried with the Hunnish army, as long as they had a communal style of government.2 ln all, in this and every kind of pomp and glory King Attila of the Huns surpassed all the monarchs of the earth in his days. His ambition was to become master of cities, castles, and towns, and to be lord over them; however, he scorned to live in them. lnstead, he and his people travelled through High German marhstall (modern German Marstall) (LexMA 6: 325). - The expeditio ("his host") recalls the ten thousand immortals of Herodotus (7.83) and Quintus Curtius Rufus (3.3.1 3) ; this passage is only included in the Greek and Serbian versions of the Alexander romance (cf.Historia de preliis ]2, 182, Ps.-Kallistenes 1 .4 1 ; Hadrovics, "Nagy Sándor-regény," 288-89) , but a similar sentence, elegit C acies de viris probissimis , appears in the Attila-story of the Chronicon Hun ­ garico-Polon icum (SRH 2: 300-301 ) . - The description of the "arma gentis" ("the armour of his soldiers") comes from Herodotus (7.6 1 ) , most likely through the Alexander tradition. 2

The "turul" bird (commonly identified with a breed of falcon, falco was probably the totem of the Árpád clan. U nlike the Anonymus (ch. 3) Simon subt!y avoids making an overt genealogi­ cal connection between the house of Á rpád and Attila the Hun, but the common totem suggests close relationship. rusticolus altaicus ) ,

44

GESTA HUNGARORUM

incedebat, extera natio, quae eum sequebatur, in civitatibus et in villis. Indumentor�m vero modus et forma sibi et gentia modum Medorum continebat 1 . 1 1 . Postquam vero in praelio Cezunmaur Romani cor­ ruissent et fuissent dispersi usquequaque, rex Ethela est conversus in castra gentis suae et ibi in descensu ultra Tizam paucis diebus habitavit, tandem in Scewen6 • 2 curiam solemnem celebrare procuravit. Ad quam Ditricus de Ve­ rona cum principibus Germaniae accedens omne homa­ gium Ethelae et Hunis fecisse perhibetur. Suggessit regi, ut invadere debeat regna occidentis. Cuius quidem consilium amplectendo exercitum statim proclamari iussit. Egres­ sus de Sicambria primo Illiricos subiiciens, deinde Renum Constantiae [SRH, 153] pertransivit3 • Abinde vero Re­ num inferius descendendo, rex Sigismundus4 apud Basi­ leam cum ingenti exercitu eisc contravenit d quem devincens cum impetu, suo fecit imperio obedire. A loco autem illo egressus obsedit Argentinam civitatem, quam primitus Roa sibi et gente K, sua et gentis H 6 Sceven H, Scewem E

e

suo H, E

d convenit H, E 1

Cf. Getica ch. 34, and also the first paragraph of the 1279 law on the Cumans of Hungary: . . . descendent et recedent a tabernaculis suis et

domibus filtrinis, et habitabunt ac morabuntur in villis more Chris­ tianorum in edificiis et domibus solo fixis "from now on they shall settle

down and leave their tents and houses made of felt. They shall reside and remain in villages of the Christian sort with buildings and houses attached to the ground" (DRMH 1: 69) . Similar phrasing regarding the

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

45

the open country with their tents and carts, while the foreign nations who followed him occupied the towns and villages. The type and style of clothing worn by Attila and his people followed the style of the Medes. 1 1 1 . After the Romans were crushed at the battle of Zie­ selmauer and dispersed in all directions, King Attila re­ turned to the camp of his people and spent a few days there at his settlement beyond the river Tisza. At length he called a forma! court in Szőny. 2 History relates that Dietrich of Bern and the princes of Germany attended this court and did all homage to Attila and the Huns. Dietrich suggested to the king that he should invade the kingdoms of the west. Attila seized upon this proposal, ordering his army to be called out at once. Setting out from Sicambria, he first subdued the Illyrians, then crossed the Rhine at Con­ stance. 3 As they moved further clown the Rhine their advance was opposed by King Sigismund4 with a huge army not far from Basle, but Attila fell upon him and def eated him, forcing him to acknowledge his overlordship. He then set out from there to lay siege to the city of Argentína. No Goths occurs in Rodericus de Rada, Historia , 23.- The reference to the Medes may go back to the Alexander matter; see note 1, pp. 42-3. 2

Szőny: on the Danube West of Esztergom; in Roman times Brigetio, but the Latin name was unknown in the Middle Ages.

3

The itinerary of the Hun army follows the settlements mentioned in the historical sources on the one hand and the itinerary of Simon's travels on the other (see Map 1) . 4

For Attila' s attack on Burgundy, cf.Paul the Deacon Historia Romana 14.5. - As king of Burgundy (reigned 516-23) , Sigismund is men­ tioned in ,a different context in the Getica (58.298) .

46

GESTA HUNGARORUM

manorum caesara nullus potuit expugnare metus orbis ex­ pugnavit diruendo murum eius, ut cunctis adeuntibus via libera haberetur, edictum faciens, ne vivente eo murare­ tur. Propter quod eadem civitas postmodum Strozbur6 , non Argentína usque hodie est vocata 1 . Amoto autem de loco illo suo exercituc Luxovium, Bizantiam, Chalon, Ma­ sticoniam, Lingonensem et Lugdulum Burgundiae destru­ xit civitates. Descendens tandem iuxta Rodanum adversus Cathalaunos2 , ubi etiam diviso suo exercitu tertiam par­ tem suae gentis contra Miranniamonamd, soldanum scili­ cet Marroquiae3 cum electis capitaneis destinavit. Quo audito Miranniamoniae de urbe Sibiliae fugiit ante Hunnos in Marroquiam brachio Sibiliae transpassato4 • Tunc interea regem Ethelam Romanorum patrícius dictus Ecius cum X. regibus [SRH, 154] occidentis invasit ex abrupto. Et dum subitum insultum niterentur facere super Ethelam, per nuncios praeliandi inducias ab ipsis postulavit, ut copia suae gentis, quae absens fuerat, iungeretur. Sed illis renu­ entibus inter utrosque exercitus a mane usque noctem in campo Belvider praelium est commissum. Erat enim inter a caesarum E 6 Strozburc E e

exercitu suo H

d Miramam Monam H, Miramammonam E e Mirama H, E

1

The author connects the name with German Strasse ( = Latin via) and Burg: there was libera via "free access" to it. Simon might have picked up a local legend on his travels, as similar stories about Strasbourg appear after his time (Bleyer, "Hun-monda," 820).

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

47

Roman emperor had ever before been able to conquer this city, but the Terror of the World took it by storm, demol­ ishing its walls so that all those passing by would have free access to the city and issuing a proclamation that it should not be walled as long as he lived. For this reason the city was renamed Strasbourg instead of Argentina, and is so called to this day. 1 He then led his army from there against the Burgundian cities of Luxeuil, Besan�on, Chalon-sur­ Saőne, Macon, Langres, and Lyons, destroying all of them. Finally the Huns came to a halt on the banks of the Rhone by the lands of the Catalans. 2 Here Attila divided his army, sending a third of his forces under chosen captains against Amir al-mu'nimin, the sultan of Morocco. 3 When Amir al-mu'nimin learnt the news he fled before the Huns from the town of Seville to Morocco, crossing the straits at Seville. 4 ln the meantime, the Patrician of Rome, Aetius, with ten western kings made a surprise move against King Attila. While they were planning to fall upon him unex­ pectedly, Attila sent envoys to negotiate a truce in the hope of winning time until those of his troops who were absent could j oin him. However, his overture was rejected. So the two armies joined battle on the field of Beauvoir. The 2

Simon may have meant something like "by the lands of" or "against the Catalans," for the battle of Catalaunum is described in other terms (in campo Belvider) , see note 1, p. 48 (Déri, "Marmorinus," 306) . For a literary parallel for Attila's conquest of Spain, cf. Cordt, A ttila, 48. 3 Amir al-mu'nimin, that is, prince of all believers, in Arabic an honor­ ary title of caliphs and sultans. lt occurs in different variants in con­ temporary Latin historical texts to denote Muslim rulers. 4 Knowledge of the Arab defeat at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 possibly inspired the author's reference to the flight to Morocco.

48

GESTA HUNGARORUM

utrosque exercitus fluvius discurrens tam parvissimus, ut si capellum in ipso quis iactasset, fluvii plano cursu vix poterat inferius removeri, praelio autem iam confecto ani­ malium sanguine et humano talis torrens efficitur, ut auri­ gam cum curru introtraheret et armatos, fieretque mor­ talitas per torrentem in exercitu valde magna. lstud ergo praelium, quod commissum extitit inter Hunnos ac re­ ges occidentis in loco memorato, omnibus praeliis huius mundi, quae commissa sunt uno loco et uno die, per veteres maius esse perhibetur 1 . ln quo quidem conflictu Gottorum rex Aldaricus miserabiliter intercipitur2 • Cuius quidem obi­ tum alii reges ut cognoscunt, in fogam [SRH, 155] conver­ tuntur. Ab illa itaque die elevatum. est cor Hunnorum et regis Ethelae, timorque percussit orbem terrae et plura regna hoc audito censu ac tributo eis servierunt3 • 12. Tertia vero exercitus societas, quae fuerat contra Mi­ ranniamonama destinata, propter moram interesse non va­ lens in praelio, remansit usque vitam Ethelae Katalaunis, habitatores tandem Katalauniae sunt effecti. Erant enim sali Hunni praeter exteras nationes CCC. millia XXX. a

1

Miramammonam H, E

Aetius (d. 454) was patricius, consul, and magister utriusque militae. The Getica calls the kings auxiliares, without mention of number. The batt!e took place at campi Catalauni qui et Mauriaci, according to Jordanes (Getica 36) . Our author generally follows Jordanes, but is unique in calling the battlefield Belvider/Beauvoir (which must have been south of Lyons, in the vicinity of Vienne, but is not identifiable; cf. Szűcs, above p. XLVIII. To add to the confusion, he associates Catalaunum with Catalonia (cf. note 1 , p. 50 on Hispania -ispán) . -

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

49

fighting raged from morning till nightfall. Between the two hosts there ran a river so small that if someone threw a hat into it, the shallow stream would scarcely move it. But by the time the battle was over, the blood of men and animals had swollen it to such a torrent that it could sweep away a chariot and its driver or men in full armour and there was a great loss of life from the army in it. Ancient writers say that this battle between the Huns and the western kings in that place was greater than any other battle in this world fought on one day and in one place. 1 Moreover, Aldaric king of the Goths died wretchedly in this battle. 2 When the other kings got to know of his death, they turned and fled. Accordingly, from that day on the heart of the Huns and King Attila was lifted, and fear struck the lands of the earth, and on hearing the tidings many realms submitted to them and offered to pay taxes and tribute. 3 12. However, the third section of the army, which had been sent against Amir al-mu'nimin and which had been delayed from taking part in the battle, remained in the land of the Catalans far the rest of Attila' s life and finally settled clown in Catalonia. Not counting the other nations, these Huns numbered 330,032. Many of the Huns held office in For the description of the torrent cf.Getica, ch.40; Paul the Deacon Historia Romana 14.6 (parvulus . . . rivulus) . - T he translation of capellum as "hat" is uncertain, but no known medieval meaning of the word makes good sense here. 2

ln fact it was the king of the Visigoths, Theodoric I, who died in this batt!e (so Getica 40.209) .

3

"From that day on" recalls the wording in the Chronicon Hungarico­ Polonicum (SRH 2: 300) and the Anonymus, ch.44 (echoing Jth.1.7) .

50

GESTA HUNGARORUM

millia et XXXII. Hunni. Ex his etiam Hunis plures fuerant in exercitu capitanei constituti, qui Hunorum lingua spani vocabantur, ex quorum nominibus tota Ispania postmo­ dum est vocata, cum primo vocati essent Catalauni 1 . 1 3. Demorantibus siquidem Ethela et Hunnis in Belvider aliquamdiu, tandem regressi cum victoria intraverunt To­ losanam civitatem, ubi a civibus cum laude summa sunt suscepti. Indeque recedentes Remensem civitatem Galli­ corum, quae Ethelae in eundo restiterat, igne concrema­ runt, militia et civibus, quia se in ea recluseranta, omni­ bus trucidatis. Taliterque Francia et Flandria demolita2 Re­ num Coloniae pertransivit, ubi Sanctam Ursulam, Brit­ tanorum regis filiam cum XL millibus virginum Huno� rum feritas crudeliter iugulavit3 • Abinde Turingiam intro­ gressus [SRH, 156] in Isnaco curia celebrata super Da­ cos, Norvagios, Frisones, Litvanos et Prutenos exerci­ tum magnum destinavit, quibus devictis et humiliatis sibi fecit subiugari4 • Ab Isnaco autem curia celebrata egrediens

a quae K 6 recluserat K

1

Cf.SRH 1, ch.12, 267.A fantastic etymology, based on the homoph­ ony between (H) ispania and the Hungarian ispán (in the author's time the head of a county or other royal officer). 2 Cf. SRH 1, ch.13. 267-69. F or Toulouse and Reims cf.Pantheon ch. 17, 187-88. 3

St. Ursula is also mentioned in the Pantheon, but not specifically as the daughter of the king of the Britons. Simon's account reflects the

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

51

the army as captain, or ispán in the Hunnish language, and afterwards the whole of Spain [Hispania] , which was pre­ viously known as the land of the Catalans, took its name from this title. 1 1 3 . Attila and the Huns remained for some time in Beau­ voir; then at length they started for home. They entered the city of Toulouse victoriously and were received with paeans of praise by the citizens. Then they left and came to Reims, a city of the Gauls. Because the city had offered . resistance to Attila during his advance, he had it burnt to the ground, massacring the soldiers and all the civilians who had shut themselves up in it. They then devastated France and Flanders in similar wise. 2 Next they crossed the Rhine at Cologne, where the Huns in their savagery mer­ cilessly killed St. Ursula, the daughter of the king of the Britons, and her 11,000 virgins. 3 Attila then entered Thur­ ingia. ln a court held at Eisenach he decided to send a great host against the Danes, Norwegians, Frisians, Lithuanians, and Prussians, all of whom were conquered, humbled, and made subject to him. 4 After the court Attila left Eísenach Regnante Domino version of the St. Ursula legend (AASS vol. 9, s.v. Oct. 21; cf. Grzesik, "European Motifs," 49-51) . 4

The names Thuringia and Eisenach were well-known ín Hungary by the 13th century (see note 4, p. 167) . ln Eisenach the memory of Attila's raid was preserved in late medieval local tradition (Doma­ novszky, Kézai Simon mester, 59; Bleyer, "Hun-monda," 822-23) . For Lithuania in the Attila-story cf. Chronicon Hungarico-Polonicum (SRH 2: 301) . - The other names appear in various geographical treatises, the Dani [in our text Daci, in the Middle Ages Dacia referred to Denmark] and Frisones far example in Guido's Geographica (p. 553) . Sigibert of Gemblaux speaks of the northern campaign of Attila (MGH SS 6: 309) .

52

GESTA HUNGARORUM

Sicambriam introivit, ubi Budam fratrem suum manibus propriis interfecit, proiici faciens corpus eius in Danubium, eo quod ipso Ethela in partibus occidentisa praeliante inter eum et fratrem eius metas stabilitas transgressus fuerat dominando. Fecerat etiam Sicambriam suo nomine appel­ lari. Et quamvis Hunis et caeteris suis gentibus interdictum rex Ethela posuisset, ut urbs Ethelae vocaretur, Teuto­ nici interdictum formidantes, eam Echulbuer6 vocaverunt, Hunni vero, curam parvam illud reputantes interdictum, usque hodie eandem vocant Oubudam sicut prius 1 • His itaque sic c peractis V. annis continue in Sicambria requievit speculatoribus suis in mundi quatuor partes distributis. Speculatorum siquidem príma societas ordinatim de Si­ cambria, in quantum unius clamor ad alium audiri potuis­ set, Coloniae, Germaniae civitate die ac nocte stare con­ sueverat, altera usque Litvam tertia in Don fluvii litore, quarta vero Iadrae, civitate Dalmatiae stationes faciebat, quorum voce et clamore, quid Ethela ageret, seu quali exercitationi deditus esset, mundi partes quatuor potuis­ sent experiri 2 . 1 4. Incidentia. Pannoniae, Panfiliae, Macedoniae, Dalma­ tiae et Frigiae civitates, quae crebris spoliis et obsidionibus a

occiduis K, H, E

6 Echulburc E e 1

sic H, E add., K om .

The town of Attila (Óbuda) is mentioned for the first time in Hungary by the Anonymus, chs . 1, 47, 49, 50 (Ecilburgu, Elciburgu) . ln his Chronica Slavorum of 1189, Arnold of Lübeck identifies Óbuda with the city of Attila (in urbem Adtile dictam, MGH SSrG 14: 130) ,

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

53

and went to Sicambria, where he murdered his brother Buda with his own hands and had his body thrown in the Danube. Attila's reason was that while he was away fighting in the West his brother had overstepped the boundaries of . authority he had established between the two of them and had had Sicambria renamed after himself. Although Attila issued an order to his Huns and his other followers that the city was to be referred to as the City of Attila, and the Germans out of fear respected the order and called the city Etzelburg, the Huns paid scant heed to it and continued to call it Óbuda, as they still do to this day. 1 For five whole years Attila remained in Sicambria. Meanwhile he sent his spies to the four corners of the world. The members of each group were stationed at intervals, so that day or night one spy's cry could be heard by the next. One line stretched from Sicambria as far as the city of Cologne in Germany, another to Lithuania, the third to the banks of the Don, and the fourth to the city of Zadar in Dalmatia. As they called and shouted to each other the four quarters of the globe could learn what Attila was doing or what campaigns he was contemplating. 2 1 4. Further details. The citizens of Pannonia, Pamphylia, Macedonia, Dalmatia, and Phrygia, who had been exas does pseudo-Ansbertus in the Historia de expeditione Friderici ("Czilnburg": MGH SSrG NS S : 53) . Archeological excavations at Hódmezővásárhely-Szikáncs and Mezőberény suggest the real, his­ toric centre of the Huns in Hungary was to the east of the river Tisza. 2 Knowledge of a Persian communication system based on criers, recorded in Diodorus Siculus 19.17, may have been transmitted through the Alexander romances (Aschoff, Geschichte, 1: 62-70).

54

GESTA HUNGARORUM

per Hunos erant fatigatae, natali solo derelicto in Apuliam per mare Adriaticum, de Ethela licentia impetrata trans­ ierunt, [SRH, 157] Blackis, qui ipsorum fuere pastores et coloni, remanentibus sponte in Pannonia1 . 1 5. Repausato aútem rege Ethela Sicambriae V. annis defectum tertiae partis sui exercitus, que remanserat Ca­ talaunis, resarcire procuravit, curiaque solemni celebrata egressus est de Pannonia per Styriam, Carinthiam et Dal­ matiam pertransiens, apud urbem Salonam mari Adriatico et Spaletum se coniunxit, ubi ambas urbes dirui fecit et cremari. Egressus tandem circa mare Traguram, Sebeni­ cum, Scardonam, Iadram, Nonam, Senam, Polam, Paren­ tiam, Campistyriam a, Triestinamb civitatem ac cetera multa oppida occupans in montanis2 , pervenit tandem Aquile­ giam, cuius magnitudine circumspecta stupefactus, se con­ fusum reputabat, si dictam civitatem inexpugnatam re­ liquisset, pro eo maxime, quia quamplures Longobardi de Pannonia, qui Hunorum domínium et Ethelae con-

Campstiriam H, Capostiriam E 6 Terestinam H

a

1

Cf.SRH 1, ch.14, 263. - For the provinces see note 3, p. 33; again, a borrowing from the Exordia Scy thica. - This route is once again based on Simon's supposed itinerary via Barletta, Naples, Monteleone, Messina and other places (Szűcs, above, p. IL, and Maps 1 and 2) . The Blacki (i.e. Vlachi 'Vlachs') probably refers to the Romanians, cf. the Anonymus, ch. 9: Blachi ac pastores Romanorum. The first Hun­ garian royal charters referring to them are from 1205/9 and 1224. According to a charter of 1250, Romanians as well as Saxons, Székely,

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

55

hausted by repeated raids and sieges from the Huns, having received permission from Attila quit their native soil and crossed the Adriatic Sea to Apulia; the Vlachs, however, who had been their shepherds and husbandmen, elected to remain behind in Pannonia. 1 1 5. King Attila rested for five years in Sicambria and saw to it that the loss of the third part of his army which had remained in Catalonia was made good. Then after holding his formal court he marched from Pannonia through Styria, Carinthia, and Dalmatia till he reached the Adriatic by the cities of Solin and Split, both of which he ordered to be destroyed and burnt. Finally he left, and seized the towns on the sea-Trogir, Sibenik, Skradin, Zadar, Nin, Senj, Pula, Porec, Koper, and Trieste-and many others in the moun­ tains, 2 until finally he reached Aquileia. Attila was awed by the size and extent of the city, and felt that he would have met his match if he failed to capture it. He was particularly incensed because it was said that many of the Lombards from Pannonia who had scorned to live under the yoke of

and Pechenegs fought in the army of the ispán of Sibiu (Szeben) in 1210. From the 13th century their numbers significantly increased in the South-Carpathian region. Virtually everywhere in the Balkans they were referred to as pastores because their lifestyle involved seasonal movement of livestock; see Fine, Early Medieva l Balkans, 68, 205, 216, 308) . 2

Cf.SRH 1, ch. 15, 269-70. This itinerary is based on a reconstruction of the author's travels on a diplomatic mission along the coast by sea to Venice in autumn 1269 (see Szűcs, " Társadalomelmélet, " 864-65, and Map 1) .

56

GESTA HUNGARORUM

tempserant, confugisse in ipsam ferebantur. Quos quidein a civibus per nuncios repetens, et dum tradere recusarent, expugnare caepit civitatem machinarum diversis instru­ mentis. Quam dum capere nullatenus potuisset, obsedit eam anno uno et dimidio. Accidit ergo die uno, .ut eandem circuiret civitatem multis fitonicis eius lateri adhaeren­ tibus, in quibus iuxta suae opinionem fidei spem maximam apponebat, et videns ciconiam de mari evolantem et in pinnaculo unius palatii, in quo habebat nidum suum, re­ sedisse, acceptoque in rostro pullo suo, in maris arundines visibílíter deportavit. Reversa tandem et alios pullos suos simul cum nído transtulísse perhíbetur. Quo viso rex Ethela suís mílítíbus ad se convocatis aít: "Cerníte ergo socíí, quod cíconía Ísta futurorum fatorum sentít índícía urbemque per nos díruendam, ad fogam ne cum cívíbus pereat, se communit. Estote ergo díe crastína Ín praelio fortíores, vídebitís civítatem ruíturam". Tunc edícto [SRH, 158] proclamato, machinarum omni genere adhibito, cum non potuísset machinis expugnare, íngenío Scíticorum tan­ dem usus, ex decíes centenís míllíbus sellam unam de quolibet postulavít, et facta congerie ex sellís iuxta murum, íussit incendí sellas Ípsas, quarum flamma ac ardore murus se díssolvens, corruísse Ín terram cum turríbus perhibetur. Quo víso omnes cives urbe derelicta in insulam maris fugierunt. Eandem etenim insulam intraverant aeterno per­ mansuri, sed Ín Ípsa paucis annis demorantibus tandem propter metum regís Ethelae in paludes Realt, ubi nunc

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

57

Attila and his Huns had taken refuge in the city. Attila sent messengers to the citizens demanding that these people be handed over. When they refused he attempted to storm the city using various kinds of engines of war. However, he was unable to take it by any means, so he began a siege which was to last a year and a half. Then one day the king happened to be walking the circuit of the city with a number of soothsayers by his side (people in whom he placed great trust, according to his beliefs) , when he no­ ticed a stork come flying in from the sea. It landed on the tower of one of the palaces where it had its nest, and they could clearly see it pick up one of its chick in its bill and carry it off to the reedbeds by the sea. At length, it seems, the bird returned, collected the rest of its young, and carried them away as well, nest and all. Seeing this Attila called his troops together and said: "W ell, men, you can see that this stork knows full well what fate has in store. It can tel1 the city is to about to perish at our hands, and not wishing to die with the rest of the inhabitants, it is taking refuge in flight. So on the morrow be the more resolute in battle-you are going to witness the fall of the city." Attila then issued a general order and brought up siege-engines of every kind. But when he failed this time as well he resorted to a trick of the Scythians: he commanded that each of his million men bring a saddle and had the saddles piled up against the wall. Then he ordered the heap to be set on fire. As the flames leapt up, the heat was so intense that the walls crumbled and came crashing clown, towers and all. At the sight of this the townspeople fled, abandon­ ing their city for an island in the sea. They thought to remain there from then on, but being still afraid of King

58

GESTA HUNGARORUM

morantur, intraverunt. Unde etiam eadem insula usque hodie Venetica lingua Vecca Venesia nominatur 1 . 1 6. Veneti siquidem sunt Troiani, ut canit cronica Vene­ toruma· 2. Post excidium enim Troiae Aquilegiae perman­ serunt, quam et fundasse referuntur. Quidam autem Venetos de Sabaria fuisse opinantur. Sabaria vero habitata fuerat Longobardis, in qua erat generalis schola orbis terrae nationi, poetarum musis et dogmatibus philosophicis elu­ center illustrata idolorumque erroribus diversis manci­ pata3 . Quam quidem Archelaus rex primitus devastavit. Sed postea per Hunos de Pannonia expelluntur nuncque litora fluvii Tycini habitare dinoscuntur, qui et dicuntur Papi­ enses4 . [SRH, 159] a

veterorum K, veterum E mentionem fecit in adnotationibus

1

For the siege, cf. Getica, chs. 40, 4 1 , 42; Pantheon 1 7. 187; Paul the Deacon Historia Romana 1 4. 9. T hese, however, refer the prophecy and the setting the saddles on fire to the battle of Catalaunum, not the siege of Aquileia (A.D. 452) . Simon also differs in saying the siege lasted one and a half years (historically 3 months, in Paul the Deacon 3 years). T he motif of setting fire to the saddles also appears in Diodorus 2.1 3.2 - For the Lombards cf. Pantheon 23.192. - On Vecca Venesia, 'ancient Venice' in the Venetian dialect, see Szűcs, above, p.LXIII.Even Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus assumed that Venice was indi­ rectly founded by Attila the Hun (De administrando imperio 28, p. 119) . For the flight of the inhabitants, cf.Pantheon 17.187. 2 Cf. SRH l , ch. 16, 272.- The Venetian chronicles known to Simon may have been the unidentified source of the chronicle (written in French) of Martino da Canale (1267-75) , Les estoires de Venise (Eck­ hardt, "Pannoniai hún történet," 480-91; Ozoeze Collodo, "Attila") . 3

T he association of the Roman town Sabaria with a fictitious celebrated school may be connected with an actual school at the oldest Benedic-

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

59

Attila, after a few years they moved to the swamps at Rialto. There they live to this day, and because of this the island is still known as Vecca Venesia in the Venetian dialect. 1 1 6. The chronicles of the Venetians2 boast that the people of Venice are Trojans, and that after the fall of Troy they settled in Aquileia, which indeed they are supposed to have founded. On the other hand, some maintain that the Venetians are from Sabaria. Sabaria, however, was settled by the Lombards; there was a general school there for the people of the world, celebrated for the muses of poetry and the teachings of the philosophers, not to mention their dedication to false idols of every kind. 3 The first person to plunder the city was King Archelaus. Later, however, they were expelled from Pannonia by the Huns, and now they dwell on the banks of the river Ticino. They are also known as the Pavians. 4 tine monastery of Hungary, Pannonhalma (Mons Pannoniae, Martinsberg) , near to which there was a well called Sabaria (see the Anonymus, ch. 50) ; the law school at Pavia may also have influenced Simon. T he notion of a generalis schola (or studium generale) --generalis in the sense 'visited or attended by persons from many places'-may have been known to Simon from his student days (see Cobban, Medie­ val University, 23-26; T óth, "Ókor").

T he king' s name is probably taken from J ordanes (Romana sect. 225, p. 29, 14, sect. 258, p. 33, 26, where Archelaus Cappadocum rex is mentioned) or Orosius Historia contra paganos 7.18, where it appears in a different context. For the Sabarian-Pavian connection the author may have been influenced by Sulpicius Se:.rerus' Life of St. Martin (ch. 2) : Igitur Martinus Sabaria, Pannoniarum oppido oriundus fuit, sed intra Italiam Ticini altus est. T he Lombards arrived in Pannonia around 526 and left it far North ltaly in 568, where they chose T icinium (Pavia) as their capital. 4

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1 7. Postquam autem rex Ethela Aquilegiam expugnavit inde venit in Forum Iulii, ubi civitate Concordia occupata in marchiam intravit Lonbardiaea, in qua Tervisium, Brixiam, Paduam, Cremonam, Veronam, Mantuam, Perga­ mum, Mediolanum, Ferrariam aliasque plures urbes Italiae suo dominio subiugavit 1 . Post haec Ravennam adpropri­ ans6, Arrianorum archipraesul, qui in dicta civitate contra sedem apostolicam fecerat elevari XII. cardinales suam sectam imitantes, thesaurum habens copiosum, civibus ignorantibus Hunos in urbem occulte intromisit, catholi­ cos, qui erant in ea potiores, per ipsos fecit trucidari, pro­ mittens Ethelae, quod si suae sectae adhaeserit fueritque Christianos persecutus, absque fatiga suae gentis et expen­ sis Romanam urbem, totam Italiam et Affricam eius im­ perio subiugaret. Cumque Ethela annuisset, plus amore dominii, quam sectae memoratae, cognito Romani peri­ culo, quod exinde poterat Christicolis suscitari, Romanum antistitem ad Ethelam transmiserunt petentes, ut exiret de finibus Lombardorum, propter quod ei et censum per­ solverent, et gentem darent quando vellet. Apostolico itaque ad Ethelam cum crucibus et clero Romano prope­ rante, convenerunt in campo ante Ravennam locuturi. Dumque in equis uterque mutuo loquerentur, gravequea

a

Longobardiae H, Lombardiae E

6 adproperans H, approprians E e

congrueque H

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

61

1 7. After storming Aquileia, King Attila marched from there to Friuli, where he seized the city of Concordia Sagittaria and entered the march of Lombardy, bringing under his power Treviso, Brescia, Padua, Cremona, Verona, Mantua, Bergamo, Milan, Ferrara, and many cities of Italy. 1 He then advanced on Ravenna. Here the archbishop of the Arians had had twelve adherents of his sect elevated as cardinals in opposition to the papal see. He also had a vast store of treasure. Without the knowledge of his fellow citizens he secretly allowed the Huns into the city and had them massacre the Catholics, who formed the better ele­ ment of the population. ln return, he promised Attila that if the king were to become a member of his sect and persecute the Christians he would be able to add the city of Rome, the whole of Italy, and Africa to his empire without any expense or struggle on the part of his people. Attila agreed, more out of lust for conquest than attach­ ment to this sect. When the people of Rome learnt of the danger threatening Christians in consequence of this, they sem the pope of Rome to Attila to beg hím to depart from Lombardy, and offering in return to pay hím tribute and supply hím with troops whenever he wished. So sur­ rounded by Roman clergy and crosses the pope hastened to Attila. They met on a field in front of Ravenna to hold their talks and began parleying with each other from on

1

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 17, 273-75. Attila's attack on Italy in 452 was a simple plundering campaign; the unhealthy Po valley was no more suitable than Gaul for large-scale light cavalry operations (Sinor, "Historical Attila") . Regarding the itinerary, cf. Paul the Deacon Historia Romana 14.11 and Martin of Troppau (MGH SS 22: 418).

62

GESTA HUNGARORUM

viderentura regi admittere, quae Romani postulabant, inter colloquia contigit Ethelam sursum aspicere superque6 caput suum in aere hominem pendere, gladium tenentem versatilem, qui caput eius auferre minabatur. Unde quidem corde perterritus, universas petitiones [SRH, 160] annuit Romanorum et sic Apostolicus cum gaudio Romam rediit et rex Ravennam est ingressus. ln qua quidem archiprae­ sulem Arrianum cum omnibus sequacibus et complicibus captivari faciens extorsit ab eo LX. marcarum millia auri, quos postea fecit omnes iugulari 1 • ln his etiam diebus, dum Ethela Ravennae moraretur, Zoard capitaneus, princeps militiae regis cum Hunorum exercitu intrat in Apuliam et Calabriam, ubi Reginam civitatem et Cathonam, in qua Catho natus habitavit, demolitur et deinde Terra Laboris demolita usque Montem Cassinum exercitus vastat, inde

• videretur E 6 servareque K 1 For a somewhat different account of Attila's sojourn in Ravenna see Agnellus, Liber pontificalis, 265-391. - The name Africa, and at the end of the chapter E gypt and Assyria, was probably taken from the Alexander romances. - The pope at the time of the Hunnish invasion was St. Leo I "the Great" ( 440-61), cf. Getica, ch. 42, and Paul the Deacon Historia Romana 1 4. 1 2. Leo met Attila at the river Mincio i� 452 and persuaded him to withdraw. The description of the apparition does not correspond verbatim with these sources or any other medieval world chronicles, cf. also Martin of Troppau (Martinus Polonus) ,

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

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horseback. The king at first showed no inclination to accede what the Romans were asking. But in the midst of their discussions he chanced to glance upwards and beheld a human being hovering in mid-air just above him, swing­ ing a sword and threatening to take off his head at any moment. Attila received such a shock that he assented to the petitions of the Romans lock, stock, and barrel. So the pope returned joyfully to Rome while the king retired to Ravenna. There he had the Arian archbishop seized along with his followers and adherents, and after extorting 60,000 marks of gold from them, he had the lot of them killed. 1 At this time, too, while Attila was in Ravenna, his captain Zovárd, the head of the king's knights, entered Apulia and Calabria with an army of Huns. His army levelled the cities of Reggio and Catona (where Cato was born) , then destroyed Terra di Lavoro, and went pillaging as far as Monte Cassino before finally returning victori-

Chronica (MGH SS 22: 418) and Sigibert of Gembloux, Chronographia (MGH SS 6: 309-10).T he motif of an invincible king forced. to retreat before prayer was introduced into literature by Josephus Antiquitates ludeorum 9.8, describing Alexander the Great's entry into Jerusalem, and adopted by Paul the Deacon for Attila and the pope. - For the massacre of the Arians a parallel could be found in the Jewish Alexan­ der-legend in the T almud, where after a peace with the Jews Alexander let the Samaritans be killed by their Jewish enemies (Fóti, "Attila legenda") .

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tandem cum victoria Ravennam est reversus 1 • His itaque sic peractis de Italia rex Ethela rediit in Pannoniam. Dum, ergo per occidentem, orientem, aquilonem ac meridiem. longe lateque imperando extendisset suum posse, vertebat in animo transfretare, ut Aegyptios, Assirios subiugaret et Africam. 1 8. Tunc interea Bractanorum regis filiam Micolt nomine sibi adducunt ad amandum, supraa formam humanam pul­ chriorem, quam quidem adamasse intime6 perhibetur, quod excessit modum in habendo etc eadem enim nocte, cum ipsam carnaliter cognovisset, plus excesserat more solito in potando [SRH, 161] et usu coitus pro vellé consummato, ex eius naribus supine dormienti sanguis est egressus, qui locum liberum non habens exeundi, in mea­ tum gutturis introivit, ubi coagulando praepediens anhe­ litum, metum orbis suffocavit. Micolt vero de somno ex­ citata dum suum dominum crebris motibus excitasset, nec se movere potuisset, corpus cernens frigidatum et pri­ vatum calore naturali eiulando cubicularios regios ad se evocans, suum dominum exclamavit introisse universe a supra S, suam K, H, E 6 intime H, interim K, in tantum E

e

et H, E om.

d puellae H 1

Zovárd's name also appears in the Anonymus, ch. 7, 147-48, and a Hungarian chieftain of the same name was indeed fighting in Northern ltaly in 924 (Liudprand, Antapodosis 3. 2: Salardus praedux) , but this is mere coincidence. - On Cato and Cathona (Catona, now part of Reggio di Calabria) , see Szűcs, above p. CI, and Map 2. - T erra di Lavoro (Terra Laboris) proves once more Simon's knowledge of Italian

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ously to Ravenna. 1 After these events King Attila returned from ltaly to Pannonia. Already his empire stretched far and wide, by east and west, north and south. He now began making plans to cross the seas and subdue the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and Africa. 1 8. ln the meantime, a daughter of the King of the Bac­ trians called Micolt was brought for Attila's bed. This girl was more than humanly beautiful, and they say that the king was so deeply smitten that he longed to pos ses s her beyond anything else. The very first night he went to bed with her he drank and copulated in excess of even his normal bounds, and when his will and his lust was satisfied he fell asleep on his back. As he lay there a flow of blood started in his nostrils. Denied free egress the blood run back imo his throat. There it coagulated and cut off his breathing; and so the Terror of the World suffocated. Roused from sleep, Micolt shook her lord repeatedly but failed to stir him. She felt the coldness of the body and realised that the natural heat had left it. She let out a shriek and called in the king's chamberlains, wailing that her lord had gone the way of all flesh. With terrible cries and shouts the guards summoned all the watch to the doors of the language and geography. T his detailed knowledge of Italian geography could be connected to the author's travels. Between 1269 and 1271 five Hungarian delegations visited the Anjou court in Sicily. Using the local royal registers (I Registri della cancellaria Angioina, vols. 5, 6, 7) Szűcs reconstructed the routes followed in 12 70-71 by the Hungarian envoys (one of whom was most likely Simon of Kéza) . T hey landed at Barletta and travelled via Naples as far as Messina, where they joined King Charles and accompanied him as far as about San Germano (Szűcs, "Társadalomelmélet," 850-55) ; see Maps 1 and 2.

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viam carnis. Qui quidem terribiliter exclamantes ad palatii hostia universos vigiles fecerunt cursitare 1 . Sepelieruntque eum in loco superius memorato cum Welaa et aliis capi­ taneis2 . 1 9. Divulgato ergo eius obitu obstupuit orbis terrae, et utrum plangerent inimici eius, vel gauderent, haesitabant, multitudinem filiorum formidantes, qui quasi populus vix poteratb numerari. Unum etenim ex filiis post ipsum cre­ debant regnaturum, sed Ditrici astutia Veronensis ac prin­ cipum Alamanniae, quibus rex Ethela in collo residebat imperando, in partitas diversas Hunorum communitas est divisa, ita quidem, ut quidam Chabam regis Ethelae filium ex Grecorum imperatoris filia, scilicet Honorii genitum3 , a

Vela H

6 poterant H 1

Cf. SRH 1 , ch. 18, 275-76.Mico!t, a fictitious name, but of Biblical inspiration, David's first wife being called Micol (Eckhardt, "Micolt") , though Löfstedt connects it with the Old French/Anglo-Norman name "Maelgut" ("Attila," 67-68) .In Jordanes' version the girl is called "Ildico" (Getica 49.254). The description may owe something to the picture of Roxane in the Alexander tradition; cf.Exordia Scy thica, 32 1 . 2 That Attila is also said t o have been buried a t Keveaszó suggests that this Roman monument played an important role in the Hungarian Hunnish legends.Simon does not allude to a tradition which Jordanes mentions (Getica 49.258) and which later became widespread, that the king was put into a threefold coffin of iron, gold, and silver and entombed secretly at night. Another embellishment, that he was buried in the bed of the river Tisza, first appears in the 1 5th-century continu­ ation of John of U tino's world chronicle, without mention of the river's name (Bóna, Hunnenreich, 203-6; Ecsedy, "Oriental Background" ; Veszprémy, "Martin von Troppau," 983) .

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

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palace, and they came running in all directions. 1 Attila was buried in the same place as V ela and the other cap­ tains. 2 1 9. The news of Attila's death stunned the world, and his enemies were torn between joy and lament. They stood in fear of his multitude of sons, who were beyond number and almost constituted a nation in themselves. They felt sure that one of these sons would reign after him, but Dietrich of Bern and the princes of Germany, who had smarted under Attila's yoke, contrived to divide the com­ munity of Huns into different factions, so that some wished to place Csaba on the throne, Attila's son by the daughter of the Greek emperor Honorius, 3 while others 3

Cf. SRH l , ch.19, 276-78. Csaba's name and fate is often mentioned in Hungarian chronicles, e.g. the Anonymus, ch. 45, perhaps based on a 9th-century Hungarian chieftain who inspired legends that were passed on by oral tradition. However, Simon is the first to suggest a relationship between Csaba and the Székely. The Székely may have picked up the legend of Csaba during their movements in Hungary. T he Székely of County Bihar, for example, may have been in contact with the settlers of Békéscsaba (Southeast Hungary) , a place named after a chieftain Csaba (Györffy, Krónikáink, 231).His stay in Greece might have been a memory passed on by nomadic tribes like the Pechenegs or Cumans, who were employed on a number of occasions by Byzantine emperors and were occasionally settled in their territory. - For the multitude of sons cf.Jordanes Getica 49.254, who reports that Attila married Ildico post innumerabiles uxores. - The marriage of Attila to "the daughter of Honorius" (rather than Honoria) is unique to this work. Jordanes (Getica, ch. 42) and Paul the Deacon (Historia Romana 14.13) correctly record that Honoria was the sister of Va­ lentinian and daughter of Galla Placidia and Valentinian's co-emperor Constantine; and indeed, Attila tried to arrange a marriage with Honoria, but was rejected.

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alii vero Aladarium ex Cremildi Germaniae principissa 1 procreatum praeficere in regem post Ethelam nitebantur. Quia vero pars sanior Chabae adhaerebat, extera autem natio Aladario, eapropter uterque inceperunt imperare. Tunc Ditrici astutia, quae favebata Aladario, praelium inter ambos suscitatur. ln primo ergo praelio Aladarius supera­ tur; in secundo autem, quod Sicambriae [SRH, 162] per XV. dies continue committitur, exercitus Chabae sic de­ vincitur et prostratur, quod perpauci filii Ethelae Hunique remanerent. lstud enim est praelium, quod Huni praelium Crumhelt usque adhuc nominantes vocaverunt. ln quo quidem praelio tantus sanguis Germanicus est effusus, quod si Teutonici ob dedecus non celarent et vellent pure reserare, per plures dies in Danubio aqua bibi6 non poterat, nec per homines; nec per pecus, quoniamc de Sicambria usque urbem Potentiae sanguine inundavit2 . 20. Fugiit igitur Chaba cum XV. millibus Hunnorum in Graeciam ad Honorium, et quamvis retinere voluisset et Graeciae incolam efficere, non permansit rediens in Scitiam

fovebat K 6 aqua bibi in Danubio H a

e

quam K, E

Aladár (Aladarius) is Simon's invention.J ordanes mentions a certain Ardaricus, king of the Gepids ( Getica 50.263) . Aladár as a persona! name in Hungary is documented from 1202, in the form Olodar (Fehértói, Személynévtár, 258) .ln Píörik's Saga, the son of Krimhild is called Aldrian (Williams, Etzel, 259) .- Krimhild is Attila's second wife in the Nibelungenlied. 1

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favoured as Attila's successor Aladár, his son by the Ger­ man princess Krimhild. 1 The adherents of Csaba repre­ sented the s ounder element, but Aladár had the backing of a nation of foreigners . The result was that both candidates began to rule. Hereupon Dietrich, who supported Aladár, used his wiles to drive the two to open warfare. Aladár fared the wors t in the first contest. But in the s econd battle, at Sicambria, which lasted for fifteen days on end, Csaba's army received such a crushing defeat that very f ew of the Huns or the sons of Attila survived; this battle the Huns still refer to by the name of the battle of Krimhild to this day. But an enormous amount of German blood was also shed in this battle; indeed, though the Germans are ashamed to admit the truth openly, the river Danube from Sicambria as far as the city of Potentia was swollen with blood, and for several days neither men nor animals could drink the water. 2 20. Csaba, however, es caped, and with 1 5,000 Huns fled to Honorius in Greece. The emperor was willing to keep him on and to let him reside in Greece, but Csaba declined to stay and returned to his father's people and his relations

2

T he expression pars sanior ("the sounder element") derives from canon law (Wörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, s.v."Mehrheits­ prinzip") , and also occurs in Hungarian royal privileges, e.g. those issued in 1238 and in 1273 (RA no.647, 2428) .- T he battle of Krimhild ín the Nibelungenlied is Krimhild's revenge. Simon must have known the description of the battle of the river Nedao Ín Jordanes' Getica ( ch. 49) , where the Huns were forced to withdraw to the north-west Balkans, but imitates only one phrase: "pene populus fuit."

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ad patris nationem ac cognatos. Qui dum Scitiam introis­ set, mox incepit suadere, quod penitus redirent in Pan­ noniam ultionem de Germanicis accepturi1 • 2 1 . Remanserant quoque de Hunnis virorum tria millia ex praelio Crimildino erepti per fugae interfugium, qui timentes occidentis nationes in campo Chigle2 usque Ar­ pad permanserunt, qui se ibi non Hunnos, sed Zaculos vocaverunt. Isti etenim Zaculi Hunorum sunt residui, qui dum Hungaros in Pannoniam iterato cognoverunt re­ measse, redeuntibus in Rutheniae finibus occurrerunt, in­ simulque Pannonia conquestata partem in ea sunt adepti, non tamen in plano Pannoniae, sed cum Blackis in mon­ tibus confinii sortem habuerunt, unde Blackis commixti [SRH, 163] literis ipsorum uti perhibentur3 . Isti quippea a

quidem H

1

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 20, 278. The Anonymus mentions only Csaba's journey to Greece (ch.45).According to the Getica (chs.50-52) a son of Attila, Irnik (Ernach) , settled on the borders of Scythia Minor.The story probably commemorated the division of the people into two branches in Hungarian prehistory. It is impossible to establish with certainty whether these Hungarians were the same as the "Turks" who according to Byzantine sources lived along the river Vardar in Greece between the 9th and 14th centuries.ln any case Honorius died in 423, and Attila's sons clashed in 454.For the motif of several battles one after another, cf. J ordanes Getica 48.248-49 (Vinitharius is defeated only in the third battle, and dies from an arrow, which recalls Dietrich's fate) . 2

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 21, 278-79. Csiglamező (csigla ( ? ) 'fenced area' and mező 'meadow') : a settlement in the Trans-Danubian region, men­ tioned in royal charters.Some suggest that the name includes the sense "beyond the fortified borderland," referring to the status of the Székely as border guards.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

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in Scythia. When he arrived in Scythia, he immediately set about urging the whole people to return all the way to Pannonia in order to wreak vengeance on the Germans. 1 2 1 . Another group of the Huns survived, three thousand men who saved their lives by fleeing from the battle of Krimhild. Out of fear of the Westem nations they re­ mained on the field of Csigla2 until Árpád's time, referring to themselves not as Huns but as Székely. These Székely are in fact remnants of the Huns, and when they found out that the Hungarians were returning to Pannonia, they came to meet them on the borders of Ruthenia, and then joined with them in the conquest of Pannonia and acquired part of the country. However, this was not in the plains of Pannonia but in the mountains, which they shared with the Vlachs, mingling with them, it is said, and adopting their alphabet. 3 The Székely believed that Csaba perished in 3

T he Székely were held to be the people of Attila by the Anonymus as well (ch. 50) , but their origins are still debated. T heir language preserved no ancient, non-Hungarian features and is already Magyar in the earliest sources. T he historical fact is that the Székely are not indigenous to T ransylvania, but were relocated from Western parts of Hungary in the 12th century. From the 12th century they became known as a special population, enjoying privileged status as free war­ riors (Györffy, "Ursprung") . On the 6-order region of T ransylvania, Romanians and Székely lived side-by-side from the 12th century. Simon may have seen runic script-which he believes to be of Vlach/ Romanian origin-on medieval Székely monuments, several of which survive.T he inscriptions are probably written in an ancient Hungarian runic alphabet, in which oriental T urkish runes were adapted to the Hungarian language-an indication of the ethnic diversity of the Hun­ garians of the 9th-10th centuries (Györffy-Harmatta, "Rovás­ írásunk") .

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Zaculi in Graecia perisse Chabam putaverunt, unde vulgus adhuc loquitur in communi: "Tunc redire debeas, dicunt recedenti, quando Chaba de Graecia revertetur" 1 • 22. Iste igitur Chaba filius Ethelae est legitimus ex filia Honorii imperatoris Graecorum genitus, cui Edemen et Ed filii sui sunt vocati2 . Edemen autem, cum Hungari in Pan­ noniam secundario sunt reversi, cum maxima familia patris sui et matris introivit, nam mater eius de Corosminis orta erat. Eda vero in Scitia remansit apud patrem. Ex isto enim Chaba generatio Abae est egressa. Cum igitur Chaba adi­ ens in Scithiam nobilitate genitricis in communi se iactaret, Hunorum nobilitas ipsum contemnebat, asserentes eum non verum esse6 alumnum regni Scitiae, sed quasi missi­ talium exterae nationis, propter quod ex Scitia uxorem non accepit, sed traduxit de gente Corosmina3 • 23. Postquam autem filii Ethelae in praelio Crunhelt cum gente Scitica fere quasi deperissent, Pannonia extitit X. annis sine rege, Sclavis tantummodo, Graecis, Teutonicis, a Eed K 6 esse verum H 1

This saying survives in modern Székely tradition, but not with the negative connotation, i.e. that the return of a (disliked) person is not really looked forward to (since Csaba never returned) . 2

The Anonymus (chs.9-10) implies that the aristocratic Aba clan, the family of Samuel of Aba, king of Hungary 1040-44, were of Cu­ man-more plausibly, Kabar-origin. There was a count palatine Csaba from the Aba clan in the time of St. Stephen (not to be confused

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Greece; the common people have preserved a saying among themselves which they address to a person departing: "May you return when Csaba returns from Greece! " 1 22. Csaba was Attila's legitimate son by the daughter of the Greek emperor Honorius. Csaba in turn had two sons, Edemen and Ed. 2 Edemen entered Pannonia with his fa­ ther's and mother's great entourage (his mother being a Chorasminian) when the Hungarians came back for the second time, whereas Ed remained in Scythia with his father. Csaba is the ancestor of the clan of Aba. When Csaba came to Scythia and boasted in the community of his mother's high birth, the Hunnish nobility treated hím with scorn, saying that he was little better than a half-breed from a foreign nation, and not a true scion of the Scythian realm. For this reason he did not take a wife from Scythia, but brought one from the Chorasminians. 3 23. So almost all Attila's sons and the Scythians perish­ ed in the battle of Krimhild, and for ten years afterwards there was no king in Pannonia. The only people left there were immigrants-Slavs, Greeks, Germans, Moravians, and with chieftain Csaba who lived in the 9th century) . At the end of the 13th century the Aba kindred acquired a possession called the Field of Csaba; this may have been known to Simon. 3

Cf.SRH l, ch. 22, 280.Ed and Edemen (or Edumen) were mentioned by the Anonymus as well, perhaps invented as mythical ancestors from 1 Sam. 6: 11-12, "the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all who lived with him" (Györffy, Krónikáink, 208, 232) . - Chorasminian means here Muslim, referring to the "Káliz" people, cf. Simon ch. 6 and note 5, p. 19 above. - On the alleged disapproval of Csaba's marriage by the "Hun nobility," see Szűcs, above pp. LXVII-LXIX.

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Messianis et Vlachisa advenis remanentibus in eadem 1 , qui vivente Ethela populari servitio sibi serviebant. Surrexit tandem Zvataplug6 filius Morot, princeps quidam in Polo­ nia, qui Bracta subiugando Bulgaris Messianisque impe­ rabat, incipiens similiter in Pannoniac post Hunnorum exterminium dominari2 • Hunc quidem Hungari de fluvio Hung variis muneribus allectum et nunciis explorantes, considerata militia illius immunita, ipsum Zvataplug irrup­ tione subita [SRH, 164] prope fluvium Racus, iuxta Ban­ hida, in quodam oppido, cuius interrupta adhuc eminent, cum tota militia peremerunt, et sic Pannoniae populis, qui superius sunt notati, inceperunt dominari3 . Tradunt qui­ dam, quod Hungari Morot, non Zvataplug in secundo eorum reditu in Pannonia reperissent principantem. Hoc Ulahis H, E 6 Zvatapolug H

a

e

Pannonias H

1

Cf. SRH ch. 23, 280-82. When listing the peoples of Hungary, the Anonymus (ch.9) names Slavs, Bulgarians, and Vlachs; the others are Simon's addition.T he meaning of Messianis is debated; ch.32 suggests the author meant the Moravians. 2

T he Moravian prince Svatopluk (870-94) in fact died before the Hungarians arrived in the Carpathian basin.Regino's chronicle, one of the author's sources (ad ann. 895, p. 143) , mentions Svatopluk ("Zuendibolch") together with the invading Hungarians, but it was Regino's practice to subsume the events of several years under one entry. - Svatopluk's imaginary realm-embracing the entire East Central Europe-is pure fiction. There is no reason to connect him with Poland, though the variant reading Svatopolug may imply a pun with Polak 'Pole.' On Svatopluk and the Moravians see Wolfram, Geburt Mitteleuropas, 359-68, and Sós, Slawische Bevölkerung. - T he

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· who had been base-born servants of Attila when Vlachs 1 the king was alive. Finally Svatopluk, the son of Marót, a prince in Poland, who had subdued Bactra and ruled as emperor of the Bulgars and the Moravians, proceeded to make himself lord of Pannonia once the Huns had been eliminated. 2 However, the Hungarians on the river Ung lured Svatopluk away with a variety of presents; they then sent messengers to appraise the situation. After sizing up Svatopluk's ill-equipped host, they suddenly fell upon him by the river Rákos near Bánhida, slaughtering him and all his men in a certain town whose ruins are still visible. As a result the Hungarians succeeded as overlords of the above­ mentioned peoples of Pannonia. 3 Another tradition re­ counts that it was not Svatopluk but his father Marót whom the Hungarians found ruling in Pannonia on their

imaginary country of Bracta may perhaps have something to do with Bactria in the histories of Alexander, or may be a pun on the word bractari ('inebriate, delude') which appears in the former Hungarian Chronicle version in the present context (SRH 1: 281, 2: 30). 3

The sentence "With a variety of presents ..." much abbreviates the account in the Anonymus, ch.14, where the motif of buying the land with symbolic presents suggests that some details of this account of the conquest are borrowed from earlier Hungarian legends. The Anonymus has the Hungarians travel via the Carpathian mountains to the river Ung, which accords with his derivation of the name "Hun­ garian" from the name of the river (today Uz or Uh) , cf.below ch.25. - Bánhida is now part of the city of Tatabánya, with a bridge (Hung. híd) over the creek formerly called the Rákos.The medieval main road between Buda and the west crossed the Rákos at Bánhida. The ruins, which Simon takes to be the site of a battle, were probably near present-day Környe, an ancient Roman fortification which may have been called Vincentia.

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idcirco esse habetur, quia Morot pater eius nomine maior erat, sed confectus senio repausabat in castro, quod Bez­ prem nominatur. Audito infortunio, quod filio acciderat, morte subita ob dolorem finivit vitam suam. Filius vero in dominando novus erat. 1 EXPLICIT LIBER PRIMUS DE a INTROITU INCIPIT SECUNDUS LIBER DE REDITU 24. [DJ igestis igitur Hunorum natalibus, praeliis fe­ licibus et sinistris, quotiensque sua loca immutaverint, nunc videndum est, quo tempore redierint in Pannoniam iterato et qui fuerint redeuntium capitanei quantusque numerus armatorum, praesenti opusculo apponere dignum duxi2 • 25. Imperante igitur Ottone Svevo in Germania et Italia, in Francia Lodowico rege6 Lotarii filio, et Graeciam An­ tonino Duro filio Theodori gubernante, D-oCCC-o LXXII-o anno ab incarnatione Iesu Christi Hunni sive Hungari denuo ingressi in Pannoniam [SRH, 165] transa primo H add. 6 regis K

1

By "another tradition" the author is referring to the Anonymus; the latter's name for this prince is "Ménmarót," from the Hungarian marót 'Moravian.' - Veszprém is a city north of Lake Balaton and the Bakony mountains. It was one of the earlíest centres of the Árpád dynasty, the

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second entry. The basis for this story seems to be that Marót was the better known name, but being old and weak he was resting in his castle called Veszprém, and when he heard of the disaster which had overwhelmed his son, he was so grief-stricken that he forthwith ended his life. The son, however, was new to the throne. 1 END OF THE FIRST BOOK, ABOUT THE ENTRY BEGINNING OF THE SECOND BOOK, ABOUT THE RETURN 24. Thus far we have been discussing the origins of the Huns, their victories and defeats, and their various migra­ tions. Let us now turn to the time when they returned again to Pannonia. This account will include a list of the captains who led the return and the number of warriors under them, information which I thought worthy of inclusion.2 25. lt was the year 872 of our Lord's incarnation, and in Germany and ltaly Otto of Swabia was emperor, Louis, son of Lothar, was on the throne of France, and Antoninus Durus, the son of Theodore, was governor of Greece, when the Huns, or Hungarians, entered Pannonia once again. probable seat of the first bishopric of Hungary, and later associated with the queens of Hungary who were customarily crowned by the bishops of Veszprém. The Anonymus claims that it had formerly been occupied by the Romans. 2

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 25, 283. On Simon's notion of the arrival of the Hungarians as a return, see Szúcs, above p. LIV.

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ierunt, per regna Bessorum, Alborum Comanorum et civi­ tatem Kyo 1 , et deinde in fluvio Hung vocato, ubi castrum fundavere, resederunt. A quo quidem fluvio Hungari a gentibus occidentis sunt vocati. Cumque et alia VI. castra2 post hunc fundavissent, aliquandiu in illis partibus perman­ sere. 2 6. Tandemque Zvatapoluga interempto quemadmodum superius est narratum, in VII exercitus sunt divisi, 3 ita quidem, ut unus exercitus sine centurionibus decurio­ nibusque unum haberet capitaneum, cui tanquam duci deberent unanimiter intendere ac parere4. Habebat enim unus exercitus XXX. millia virorum armatorum exceptis decurionibus ac praefectis. Egressi ergo vexillis erectis cum

a

1

Zvataplug H, E

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 26, 284-86. ln spite of the apparent chronological exactitude-following the style of chancellery documents-the char­ acters are fictitious: Otto may be Otto duke of Swabia (973-82) and Bavaria (976-82) , or Odo of Paris (West Frankish king, 888-98) ; Louis, may be Louis 11 (Frankish emperor 850-75) , while Antoninus Durus, presumably intended as a reference to a Byzantine emperor, is entirely fictitious. The year 872 is obscure; the number 72 may derive from the traditional historical chronology-72 years separate 445 (supposed death of Attila, instead of 453) and 373 (assumed exodus of the Huns from Scythia)-but the date is in fact not too far from 895-96, the historical date of the Hungarian conquest. While in ch. 7 Simon misdates the Hun's departure from Scythia in order to strengthen "historical claims," the difference here of 20 years is not explicable by any historical construct. - Simon follows the Anonymus and the earlier Hungarian chronicles for the route of the Hungarian migration (Pechenegs, White Cumans, Kiev) . The Old Russian Annals record

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

79

They passed through the realms of the Pechenegs and the White Cumans and by the city of Kiev, 1 and finally settled on the river Ung, where they built a fortress. The name the Western peoples give them, the Hungarians, derives from this river. After this they proceeded to build six other castles2 and remained in that region for some time. 26. After finally disposing of Svatopluk, as recounted above, they divided into seven hosts, 3 each having besides centurions or decurions a single commander to whom unanimous obedience was due, as its leader (a host con­ tained 30,000 warriors, not counting decurions and higher ranks) . 4 Thereupon they raised their banners and moved

that the migrating Hungarians passed the city of Kiev in 898 (PSRL, 1; PL V) , but we do not know whether these annals were known to medieval Hungarian historians. 2

Like the Anonymus, Simon derives the name of the Hungarians from the river Ung.T he total of seven castles may allude to the German name for T ransylvania, Siebenbürgen (which in fact derived from a local river, the Szeben or Zibin; see Binder, "Siebenbürgen"). 3

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 27, 286-87; ch. 54, 304. T he seven conquering Hungarian tribes are explicitly commemorated in Anonymus's word Hetumoger (modern Hung.hét 'seven,' magyar 'Hungarian') ; Constan­ tine Porphyrogenitus also notes that "the T urks were seven clans ..." (De administrando imperio 38.171. 4

People governed directly by the king, such as the Székely, other privileged military groups, and servile elements on royal estates, who also had the responsibility of collecting taxes, had officers known as "centuriones," who were assisted by "decuriones" in charge of a tenth of a century; see the law of Ladislas I (DRMH 1: 18) , and cf.Göckenjan, "Stammesstruktur"; Györffy, Wirtschaft, 93-101).

80

GESTA HUNGARORUM

uxoribus, liberis et armentis Danubium in Pest et in portu Zub transierunt, ubi castrum quoddam circa Danubium, in quo erant milites Zvataplug recollecti, qui fuere erepti per fogam, quando dominus ipsorum interierat, expugnarunt. ln quo quidem affinem Morot nimis vetulum cum aliis perimentes, usque hodie fabulose Morot ipsum fuisse asse­ verant 1 . 2 7. Ex istis ergo capitaneis Arpad, filius Almi, filii Elad, filii Vger de genere Turul rebus ditior erat et potentior gente2 • Hic igitur Arpad cum gente sua Ruthenorum Alpes prior perforavit, et in fluvio Ung primus fixit sua castra, eo quod eius prosapia ista prae caeteris Scitiae tribubus praerogativa investitur dignitate, ut exercitum praecedit in eundo, retrograditur redeuntem3. [SRH, 166] Et cum transmeato Danubio Pannoniam introissent, ipse Arpad in

1

Both Pest and Szob (at the confluence of the river Ipoly and the Danube) have been important crossing points since the Middle Ages. The name of the settlement opposite Szob, Marót (today Pilismarót) , the remains of Roman watchtowers along the Danube, and local folk­ lore may have influenced the author's choice of setting for this episode. 2

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 28, 287. Árpád was founder of the dynasty which ruled Hungary till 1301. In the Anonymus, Árpád is the son of Álmos, the son of Ügyek, who was from the kindred of Magóg. Constantine Porphyrogenitus also mentions Á rpád and Álmos: " . . . there is a voivode .. . called Almoutzis, and he has a son called Arpad" (38.173) . The Anonymus, on the other hand, omits Előd in the genealogy of

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

81

out, taking with them their wives, children, and livestock. They crossed the Danube at Pest at the riverport of Szob, after seizing a nearby fortress occupied by soldiers of Svatopluk who had escaped after the death of their lord and regathered there. Among the occupants killed was a very ancient relative of Marót-this gave rise to a story they repeat to this day, that this person was Marót himself. 1 2 7. Among these captains Árpád the son of Álmos son of Előd son of Ügyek, of the Turul kindred, was richer in possessions and enjoyed a more powerful following. 2 Ár­ pád and his clan were the first to forge their way through the Ruthenian Alps and to pitch camp by the river Ung, as his family enjoyed the prerogative among the Scythian tribes of advancing at the head of the host when it marched forward, and at the rear when it returned. 3 They then crossed the Danube and entered Pannonia, Árpád setting

Árpád (ch.6) , and connects him with the chieftain Szabolcs.- The de genere Turul formula ("of the Turul kindred") refers here to the similarity of the royal dynasty and a noble kindred, cf.also Simon, ch. 10. The reference to the turul, Attila's totem, seems to imply that Simon also accepted the genealogical connection between Árpád and Attila, which the Anonymus makes specifically. 3

Nomadic tribes like the 9th-century Hungarians would have placed their inferior troops up front; in referring to this position as a preroga­ tive Simon is thinking in chivalric terms. He would have found com­ parable descriptions in the Alexander romances and in the narrative parts of contemporary royal charters (cf. Rodericus de Rada Historia 8.9, p. 271, and for a general overview of knightly warfare, see Verbrug­ gen, Art of Warfare) .

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GESTA HUNGARORUM

loco illo fixit tabernacula, ubi modo Albensisa civitas est fundata. Illeque locus primus descensus existit Arpad ducis 1 • 2 8. Alterius vero exercitus capitaneus Zobole vocabatur, qui ín eo loco fixit sua castra, ubi modo Chakwara6 iacet desolata. Ab isto Zobole generatio Chak esse habet2 • 29. Tertii quidem exercitus Iula fuit capitaneus. Hic, licetc cum aliis ind Pannoniam introisset, in partibus Erdevelu tandem habitavit 3. 3 0. Sed quarti capitaneus Vrs est nominatus; 1ste circa flumen Soio sua tabernacula fixisse perhibetur4.

Albensis H, Albana K, Alben E 6 Chakvara H a

e

iacet K, H; E om .

d in H om .

1

Together with Esztergom, Fehérvár (today Székesfehérvár) was the most significant city of medieval Hungary and the usual coronation and burial site of the Hungarian kings.The connection with Árpád is perhaps not entirely unfounded, as a certain "Valley of Á rpád" (Árpád­ völgy) in the vicinity of Székesfehérvár was referred to in 1 1 93 (ÁMTF 2: 325; Deér, "Aachen," 5-3 1). Toponyms suggest that the true resi­ dence of Duke Árpád may have been by the Danube near modern Budapest.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

83

up his tents at the place where later the city of Székesfe­ hérvár was founded. This place was Duke Árpád's first residence. 1 28. The leader of the second host, Szabolcs, pitched camp where the ruins of Csákvár now stand. Szabolcs is held to be the ancestor of the Csák kindred. 2 29. The third host was commanded by Gyula. Although he came into Pannonia with the others, Gyula finally set­ tled in Transylvania. 3 3 0. The name of the captain of the fourth host was Örs. Örs is said to have set up camp by the river Sajó. 4

2

Cf. SRH l , ch. 29, 290. Szabolcs is also mentioned in the Anonymus, chs. 6 and 50, in the same context. Szabolcs's name survived as an ancient (and present) county of Szabolcs in Northeast Hungary, but it has no known connection with this kindred. Csákvár, in western Hungary, was the centre of the ancestral territory of the Csák kindred, one of the most powerful Hungarian kindreds. Cf. SRH l , ch. 30, 290. T he Anonymus (ch. 6) and Simon offer different theories about Gyula. ln fact, the name was the title of a dignitary, the warlord (Heerkönig) in the tribal age before Árpád (cf. notes 1, p. 84 and 4, p. 102) . - Erdevelu (modern Erdély) 'over the forest' is the Hung. equivalent of T ransylvania. See also note 2, p. 79. 3

4

Cf. SRH l, ch. 34, 292. The Anonymus refers to Örs as a Cuman (ch. 8) , not as one of the seven Hungarian chieftains. Simon correctly locates the possessions of the Örsúr ('Lord Örs') kindred along the river Sajó, in Eastern Hungary.

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GESTA HUNGARORUM

3 1 . Quinti vero exercitus Cund a est dictus capitaneus. Hic circa Nyr habitavit, huius filii Cusid6 et Cupian sunt vocati 1 • 32. Lele ergo exercitus sexti ductor fuerat. Iste circa Gol­ gochad primitus habitans, exinde Messianis2 et Boemis [SRH, 167] exstirpatis, tandem in partibus Nitriaee saepius fertur habitasse. Ex isto Zuard oritur tribus et cognatio3 • 33. Septimi siquidem exercitus Werbulchuf dux est dic­ tus. Hic in Zala, circa lacum Bolotong descendisse perhi­ betur. Pro eo enim Werbulchuh est vocatus, quia cum avus eius in praelio Crimildino per Teutonicos fuisset interfec­ tus, et id ei pro certo constitisset, volens recipere vindictam super eos, plures Germanicosi assari fecit super veru et

Eund H 6 Eusid H a

e

lel K

cl.

Golgotha H

e

Nittriae K

f V erbulchu H g

Bolotim H, Bolotum E

h Verbulchu H i Germanos H 1

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 31, 291. According to the Anonymus (ch. 6) , Künd (Cundu) was the father not of Küsid but of Kursan (for whom see Wolfram, Geburt Mitteleuropas, 542) . Künd-also in the form Kende­ was in fact the tit!e of a Hungarian dignitary, probably the sacral ruler.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

85

3 1 . The leader of the fifth host, Künd, settled in the Nyírség region. His sons were named Küsid and Kaplony. 1 32. Lél was the commander of the sixth host. It is stated in many accounts that Lél first dwelt near Hlohovec and afterwards settled in the region around Nitra once the Moravians2 and Bohemians were eliminated. He was the ancestor of the Zovárd tribe and kindred. 3 33. The leader of the seventh army was called Vérbulcsu. He is said to have settled at Zala around Lake Balaton. The reason he was called Vérbulcsu was that, having learnt of his grandfather's death at the hands of the Germans in the battle of Krimhild, he exacted vengeance by having a number of Germans roasted on a spit [veru] , and is said to T he Kaplony kindred considered Küsid as their forefather, and their monastery was in the Nyírség region (at Kaplony, today Capleni in Romania) . Györffy argued that the !ast sacred ruler died ca. 905, and that this opened the path for the Árpád clan to attain pre-eminence. 2

Cf. SRH 1, chs. 32, 291-92. Hlohovec and Nitra are mentioned in the Anonymus ( ch. 33, 37) as centres of the Slavs under Bohemian sover­ eignty, which were invaded by the Hungarian captains Zovárd (Szo­ várd) , Kadocsa, and Huba. ln medieval Hungary Nitra was the centre of County Nyitra and the seat of a bishopric; cf. LMas 6: 1201-2. 3

Lé! (traditionally spelt Lehel in Hungarian) is a descriptive name, from lélegzet or lehelet, Hungarian for respiration and breath. ln the Anony­ mus (ch. 6) Lé! is mentioned as a military leader, and his father T as is named as one of the seven conquering chieftains, while Zovárd is stated to be a relatíve of chieftain Á lmos. T he village of Lél-now a field­ name-in Northwest Hungary was a possession of the Szovárd kin­ dred. T he ancestral lands of the Zovárd kindred were in Counties Komárom and Esztergom.

86

GESTA HUNGARORUM

tanta crudelitate in eos dicitura exarsisse, quod quorumdam quoque sanguinem bibit sicut vinum 1 . Isti quidem capitanei loca descensumque, ut superius est dictum, sibi elegerunt, similiter et generationes aliae ubi eis placuit eligentes. 34. Cum autem resedissent Pannonia occupata, tandem Moraviam et Boemiam bonis omnibus spoliarunt Wara­ tizlao eorum duce in praelio interfecto2 • 35. Post haec vero Carinthiam hostiliter adeuntes, ultra castrum Leopah Meraniae6 dux Gotfridus nomine duxque Eburhardus cum Aquilegiensi patriarcha ipsis occurrentes atrociter insimul pugnaverunt. Et quamvis ex Hungaris plures corruissent in praelio memorato, utriquec duces occiduntur patriarcha per fogam liberato. Abinde spoliata Carinthia, Styria et Carniolad, cum maxima praeda in Pan­ noniam revertuntur3 • • crudelitate dicitur H 6 Meraniae E, Ineraniae K, Vieraniae H e

uterque K

d Carniolia H, E 1

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 33, 292. T he Anonymus refers to Vérbulcsu simply as Bulcsu (ch. 39) . T he first element is Hung. vér 'blood,' but Simon also plays on Latin veru 'skewer.' Making him a grandson of a partici­ pant in the battle of Krimhild confirms the chronology at the begin­ ning of ch. 25. Constantine Porphyrogenitus also mentions a Bulcsu (Boultzous) who was baptised by the emperor around the year 948 and awarded the title patricius (ch. 40) . - Zala is a county bordering on Lake Balaton, and the lands of the Vérbulcsu kindred were indeed in this region (KMTL, 1 32-33) .

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

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have behaved with such savagery to them that he drank the blood of certain captives as though it were wine. 1 So these captains chose the above-mentioned places to settle, and the other kindreds settled wherever they liked. 34. After occupying and settling Pannonia, they sub­ sequently raided Moravia and Bohemia, pillaging every­ thing and slaying Duke Vratislav in battle.2 35. Next they mounted an expedition against Carinthia. There they were met by Duke Geoffrey of Merania and Duke Eberhard and the patriarch of Aquileia beyond the castle of Ljubljana. A bloody battle ensued. The Hungari­ ans lost many of their men in this fight, but the two dukes were also killed, and the patriarch only escaped by flight. Thereupon they ravaged Carinthia, Styria, and Carniola, and returned to Pannonia with vast quantities of booty. 3

2

Cf. SRH 1 , ch. 54, 304. Vratislav was a Bohemian duke who died in 921 fighting against the Hungarians (Handbuch, 2 1 4).Some, however, have taken Simon's allusion to refer to another figure, a certain Brazlawo mentioned as the !ast Frankish dux Pannoniae in the Annales Fuldenses (ad ann.884, 892, 896). 3

Cf.SRH 1 , ch.55, 304.T he castle of Ljubljana is mentioned in records from the middle of the 1 3 th century. - T he text in SRH runs: dux Meranie Gothfridus nominatus et dux Carinthie Eberhardus, necnon Gregorius Aquilegie patriarcha. But there was no duke of Andechs-Mer­ ania by the name of Gottfridus; indeed, there were no dukes of Meran before the middle of the 12th century.Eberhard may be based on Duke Bernhard of Spanheim (1 202-56) , while the Gregorius of the SRH may refer to Patriarch Gregory of Montelongo ( 1 25 1-69) .

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GESTA HUNGARORUM

3 6. Conradus vero imperator, ut audivit lacerationem [SRH, 168] gentis suae, exiens de Italia intravit Augustam Sveviae civitatem, ut exinde in Hungariam introiret Hun­ garos invasurus. Sed interea Romae bellum generatur in­ testinum et caesar Romam redit 1 • 3 7. Tunc Hungari exeuntes intrant in Bulgariam, ex qua armenta et captivos extrahunt infinitos, redeuntes tandem cum victoria in Pannoniam. 38. Tempore iterum alio per Forum Iulii intrant Lom­ bardiam, ubi Luitardum Wercellenae civitatis episcopum, imperatoris Caruli consiliarum fidissimum2 occidentes, ex ipsius ecclesia thesaurum maximum rapuerunt, totaque pene Lombardia demolita cum maxima praeda in Pan­ nomam revertuntur. 3 9. Post haec Saxoniam, Turingiam, Sveviam, Reno circa Maguntiam transpassato, orientalem Franciam et Burgun­ diam demoliti ecclesias etiam plures destruxerunt. Et cum Renum in Constantia in reditu pertransissent et cum ma­ xima onere venissent in Bavariam, circa castrum Abah a

bene K

1

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 56, 305. ln fact Conrad (911-18) was king of the Germans.However, his trip to Rome is an assumption on Simon's part; Simon's source, the Hungarian chronicles, reads simply: inter Romanos

bellum generatum est intestinum, propter quod ipsum retrocedere oporte­ bat. Later German legends tel1 of a king Conrad who fought the Hungarians (Wisniewski, "Pestis patriae," 355) . A century later Conrad

II did invade Hungary.

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

89

3 6. When Emperor Conrad heard of the savage defeat inflicted on his people, he marched from Italy to Augsburg, a city in Swabia, in order to invade Hungary and strike the Hungarians from there. ln the meantime, however, civil war broke out in Rome, and the emperor returned there. 1 3 7. Then the Hungarians marched out into Bulgaria, from where they took untold numbers of cattle and pris­ oners before returning in triumph to Pannonia. 3 8. ln a further campaign they invaded Lombardy via Friuli. They murdered Liutward, the bishop of Vercelli and Emperor Charles' most faithful counsellor, 2 and stole vast treasures from his church. Then after devastating nearly all of Lombardy they returned to Pannonia with an enormous amount of plunder. 39. They next raided Saxony, Thuringia, Swabia, and, after crossing the Rhine at Mainz, eastern France and Burgundy, destroying many churches into the bargain. On their return they crossed the Rhine at Constance and were passing into Bavaria heavy-laden when a German army 2

Cf.SRH 1, ch.57-58, 305-6.The Bulgarian raid is mentioned by the Anonymus (chs.41, 45) .The incursions into Italy in 899-900 are based on Regino's account (ad ann.901) and the Anonymus (ch.53).But the word consiliarius "counsellor" only occurs in Regino's text and not in the Anonymus, another indication that Simon or one of his sources had used Regino's work directly. - Liutward was bishop of Vercelli from 879/880 till 887, and the chancellor and close associate of Em­ peror Charles III (i.e. the Frankish king Charles the Fat, d.888) . His murder by the Hungarians took place in 899 (Fasoli, lncursioni, 98-99).

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GESTA HUNGARORUM

Alamannicus exercitus ipsos invadit ex abrupto 1 . Quibus viriliter resistentibus, praelio confecto Teutonici sagittis devincuntur. Ubi [SRH, 169] capitur Hertnidus de Svaur­ chunbraca imperatoris mariscalcus2 , id est militiae suae princeps et alii quamplures nobiles cum eodem, et licet inaestimabilem pecuniam pro redemptione eorum tradidis­ sent, ante Ratisponam Ín signum positi, sagittis crudelis­ sime, civibus in muro stantibus et admirantibus, perfo­ rantur3 . Et sic tandem cum victoria et praeda maxima ad propna revertuntur. 40. Transactis igitur paucis temporibus Lel et Bulchu per communitatem Hungarorum in Teutoniam destinantur et cum Augustam pervenissent ultra fluvium Lyh, Ín prato fixere sua castra, civitatem diuturnis et nocturnis bellis molestantes. Cumque subitis saltibus capere non valerent, obstinati nolentes recedere de suburbio, Vrricus episcopus cum civibus, ad caesarem missis nunciis, animant eum, ut succurrat civitati, quia Hungari obsidentes eos, licet sínt • Svaurchumburc H, Svarchumburc E

1

Cf. SRH 1, ch. 59, 306-7. For these campaigns cf. Regino for the years 902-12, and the Anonymus, ch. 54. The battle at Abbach perhaps occurred in 913 . Abbach was a famóus castle, a few km. West of Regensburg; the 15th-century humanist Aventinus reports the em­ peror Henry II was born here. Aventinus is also our only other source for Abbach as a target of Hungarian raids (Annales Boiorum 5.21) . 2

Hertnid von Schwarzenburg (also -berg, -bruck) is another uniden­ tified character; but Hertnid was a common name in the kindred of the Wildonier in Styria, who, although referred to as "of Riegersburg," had

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

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suddenly fell upon them near the castle of Abbach. 1 They fought back stoutly and in the event the Germans were finally overwhelmed by the Hungarians' arrows. ln the battle Hertnid of Schwarzenburg, the Emperor's marshal2 (that is, the head of his army), was taken prisoner, and numerous other nobles as well. Although an incalculable amount of money was paid for their ransom, they were set in front of the walls of Regensburg as targets and shot to death with arrows ín the cruellest manner while the citizens stood and watched ín appal from the walls. 3 After this the victorious Hungarians returned home with vast plunder. 40. Not long after the community of Hungarians sent Lél and Bulcsu to the land of the Germans. Arriving at Augsburg beyond the river Lech they pitched camp Ín the meadows and mounted attacks upon the city day and night. Though they were unable to take the city by rapid assaults, they stubbornly refused to retire from the outlying parts of the town. Hereupon Bishop Ulric and his fellow-citi­ zens sent messengers to the emperor urging hím to come to the aid of the city: though the Hungarians besieging

a possession called Schwarzenegg, whence perhaps "Schwarzenburg" (Frizberg, "Wildon"; Posch, "Riegersburg) . - T he word mariscalcus ("marshal") was known in Hungarian Latinity as well; a charter of 1255 reads: marschalcus regis Ungarorum in Styria (Steirisches Urkunden­ buch, vol. 3, no. 163) . 3

While the whole episode is fictitious, the Hungarians during their 9th-century raids might often have approached Regensburg; late me­ dieval local legends like the Dollinger-Saga teli of duels between local heroes and pagan challengers (Kunstmann, "Craco").

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GESTA HUNGARORUM

plurimi, non se custodiunt, qui facillime poterunt debellari. Egressus itaque imperator de Ulmensi curia, veniens ce­ leriter et absconse, explorato processu et exercitu Hun­ garorum, in hora tertia, cum plueret, irruit super eos et unum exercitum viciniorem civitati festinanter debellavit. Quo viso Lel et Bulchu fugae remedium quaeritantes in navem se colligunt submittentes se per Danubium, ut fu­ giant in Hungariam. Qui quidem in transitu Ratisponae captivati caesari transmittuntur. Quos caesar iudicio su­ spendii condemnando Ratisponae fecit occidi in patibulo 1 . Quidam vero ipsos aliter damnatos fabulose asseverant, quod caesari praesentati unus illorum cum tuba in caput ipsum caesarem occidisset feriendo2 • Quae sane fabula verosimili adversatur et credens. huiusmodi levitate mentis denotatur. Nam personae criminosae ligatis manibus con­ spectui principum praesentantur. Verum quidem est, et libri contineni a cronicarum3 , ut blasphemati audacter cae­ sari muriose sunt locuti asserentes,quod si ipsos occidi fecerit, de gente sua de caetero nullus captus vivere poterit, a

liber continet H

Cf. SRH l, ch. 60, 307-8. Simon, unlike the Anonymus, records the massive defeat the Hungarians suffered at Lechfeld near Augsburg on 10 August 955. - Bishop Ulric (d. 973) is the first recorded saint to be formally canonised (in 993) by a pope in Rome. - ln the sources of this campaign Ulm is mentioned only by Simon, perhaps because he had visited the region.- That the Hungarian chieftains were hanged in Regensburg on 15 August is confirmed in other historical sources, including the Anonymus, ch. 55. 1

2

The tale of Lél's horn is rooted in Hungarian oral tradition. The Anonymus was not familiar with the version of the legend recorded by

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

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them were very numerous, they had not mounted any watch and could easily be crushed. The emperor thereupon set out from his court at Ulm, reaching the city after a swift and secret march. He sized up the Hungarian army and ogserved their movements. Then he fell upon them at the third hour during a rainstorm, swiftly overwhelming the army which was nearer the city. When they saw what had happened, Lél and Bulcsu sought remedy Ín flight. They boarded a boat and set off clown the Danube, hoping to make Hungary. However, they were intercepted as they passed Regensburg and sent captive to the emperor. The emperor condemned them to be hanged, and they were executed on the gallows at Regensburg. 1 Some authors give a different version of their fate, telling a fanciful story of how when they were brought before the emperor one of them struck the emperor on the head with his trumpet and killed him. 2 Of course this is quite implausible, and anyone believing such a tale would be making an exhibition of his credulity. After all, felons are normally brought before princes with their hands bound. The truth, as recorded in the chronicles, 3 is that they foolishly uttered shameless blasphemies before the emperor and said that if they were put to death, in future no German captives would be Simon and only remarks that Lé! blew his horn.The motif of the use of a horn in imminent danger recalls the legends of Roland and of Solomon and Markolf, while oriental parallels of the Hungarian legend were recorded by William of Rubruck (ch.9) . 3

Simon's critique of folk tradition by reference to judicial procedure is noteworthy.lt is, however, unclear which are the truthful chronicles he refers to; the Illuminated Chronicle (SRH 1: 307-9) has a more elaborate but similarly fanciful version.

94

GESTA HUNGARORUM

sed vel Ín perpetuam tradetur servitutem, aut nullo iudicio praecedente occidetur. Quod et factum est. Quia ut Hun­ gari audierunt,ut caesar sic ipsos occidisset, omnes [SRH, · 170] captivos Teutonicos, tam mulieres quam parvulos usque ad XX. millia iugularunt. 4 1 . Alius vero exercitus, qui distabat ab Augusta, im­ petum caesaris ut praesensita super socios, Ín unam syl­ vam se collegit, et ut eius exercitum dispersum recognovit, persecutus est maiorem aciem gentis suae, quae tendebat versus Renum. Quam6 in campo coniungens cursitando, se insimul adunavit sicut apes: quamc sagittis vulnerando nec descendere, nec recedere permiser unt, qui se tandem velut mortuos in manus dederunt Hungaromm. Quos quidem ut ceperunt, omnibus caput detruncarunt pro exequiis sociorum. Fuerant autem numero milites et scutiferi quasid octo millia, quorum capita sunt truncata. Abinde egressi postmodum Danubii fluvium Ín Ulma transierunt, et ad Vultense caenobium cum venissent, thesaurum magnum exinde rapuerunt, et post haec tota Svevia demolita Renum Vuormaciae transierunt, ibique duos duces, scillicet Loter­ ingiae et Sveviae cum maximo exercitu contra eos venientes invenerunt. Quibus devictis et fugatis tandem Franciam intraverunt, ubi Christianis et cenobitis persecutio valida facta est per eosdem. Exinde autem egressi usque fluvium

persensit H, E 6 Quem K

a

e

quos K

d quidem K

THE DEEDS OF THE HUNGARIANS

95

allowed to live but would either be condemned to servitude forever or put to death without trial. So indeed it was done; for when the Hungarians heard that the emperor had executed them in this manner, they strangled all their German prisoners, 20,000 persons in all, even the women and children. 4 1 . However, when the other army, which was some distance from Augsburg, got news of the emperor's attack on their comrades they gathered in a forest, and as soon as they ascertained that the enemy force had split up they trailed the main body, which was making for the Rhine. Moving swiftly, the Hungarians caught up with the enemy in open country, gathering round suddenly like a swarm of bees, and harried them with arrows so that they could neither dig in nor retreat. ln the end the Germans, who were almost